The basketball world knows LeBron James is capable of playing all five spots on the floor, but he isn’t terribly fond of playing with his back to the basket.
In the Cavaliers’ 106-98 loss to the Nets on Friday, James, listed as a small forward, played power forward for much of the fourth quarter. He scored eight of his 24 points and dished out three of his nine assists on the night during the final quarter.
"Each game presents different challenges, and I'm OK with it," James said, via Cleveland.com's Joe Vardon.
"It's not something I love to do as far as extensively, but I don't mind doing it at times to help our team, whatever our needs may be, so tonight was one of those nights."
However, the Cavs fell behind with James at power forward after entering the fourth quarter tied with the Nets at 79.
Timofey Mozgov sat out the entire fourth quarter and Kevin Love couldn’t get a shot off the entire quarter with Brook Lopez guarding him.
"The big key was when they went LeBron (at the) four, Love (at the) five in the fourth quarter," Nets coach Lionel Hollins said, per Vardon. "Brook was able to stay in the game. He guarded Love, kept him from getting lined up for shots, he was good in the pick-and-rolls, and we executed."
The Cavs shot just 35 percent in the fourth and played at a much slower pace with James in the post instead of the wing, but Cleveland coach David Blatt stood by his coaching decisions.
"We played small. Brooklyn was small," Blatt said, according to Cleveland.com. "We beat them the last time playing small. ... LeBron has affected the game at the four on many occasions for us this season and in the past for Miami, if you paid attention to that."
Cleveland is still in in sole possession of second place in the Eastern Conference with a 47-27 record, two and a half games ahead of the Bulls. If the current standings hold up, the Cavs will play James’ former running mates, the Heat, in the first round of the playoffs.