'LePoint' James experiment pays dividends for Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers may be on to something with LeBron James serving as their starting point guard.

The decision to slot him in as the primary ballhandler Tuesday night in Cleveland's 119-112 victory over the Chicago Bulls was more of a necessity than it was an inevitability. Derrick Rose is still sidelined with a sprained ankle, All-Star Isaiah Thomas won't likely return until the new year as he recovers from a bad hip, and Dwyane Wade just recently volunteered to join the second unit to accommodate J.R. Smith.

Head coach Tyronn Lue wanted to go big to combat Bulls center Robin Lopez anyway, and with veteran Jose Calderon coming off an abysmal performance in the team's blowout loss to the Orlando Magic, having James bring the ball up the floor made a ton of sense.

The last time he had such a role was on Feb. 3, 2005, when he notched a double-double of 31 points and 10 assists in a 12-point loss to the Miami Heat. Fast forward over 12 years later, and James was even more superb, backing up his huge numbers with a victory.

It's no secret that James is as close to unguardable as a player could be when penetrating to the basket, and when surrounded by shooters, Cleveland's offense becomes next to impossible to stop. Chicago had no one capable of posing a challenge to James in single coverage, which is all they could do to avoid leaving a shooter open out on the perimeter.

Four players on the Cavaliers (James, Kevin Love, Kyle Korver, and Jae Crowder) connected on three or more shots from 3-point range. The ball movement was crisp, as James contributed 13 of his team's 28 dimes, while turning over the rock just twice in 37 minutes of action.

When Cleveland was in a bind in the first quarter, James flipped the switch and dropped 12 of his 34 points (13-of-20 shooting) on the night to keep the score close. As the gap closed, he turned his attention to his teammates and got them in a rhythm offensively. James had a feel for the game in terms of when to take over and when to share the wealth, which has always been a strength of his.

"I'm looking for my guys a little bit more starting at the point, especially in transition, I'm being more of a precise, precision passer and I'm not kinda full speed ahead in transition," James said afterward, according to Cleveland.com's Joe Vardon. "I'm kinda looking at what's going on and getting my guys the ball, but for me I just try to stay in attack mode when need be and if I see the hot hand start going for my guys and getting them the ball."

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

Rose won't be available Wednesday when the Cavaliers travel to Brooklyn to take on the Nets at the Barclays Center. There's really no reason to go back to Calderon, who remained on the bench Tuesday as Lue continued tinkering with his rotations.

There have been only five other instances during his storied career where James has scored 34 or more points and dished out 13 or more assists in the regular season. He had the ideal personnel around him against a Bulls squad that didn't go away quietly, and the Cavaliers were better off because of it.

When Rose is eventually cleared to play, James will, in all likelihood, resort back to being a forward.

Perhaps that shouldn't be the case.

It's only one game, but why ruin a good thing?