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Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James is not a stranger to Game 1 losses in the NBA Playoffs. With Monday’s 99-92 defeat to the Chicago Bulls, a James-led team has now lost seven series openers in the last nine years. Problem is, poking the bear often has its consequences — The King and his comrades have responded with wins in all seven of those Game 2s.

Adversity has been one of LeBron’s favorite refreshments over the years. Much like the Chicago Blackhawks, James historically plays better and gets stronger over the course of a series. However, if Cleveland hopes to topple the Bulls tonight, they need their best player to be flat out dominant. Anything less just won’t cut it.

I’m talking 30 points, 14 rebounds, 7 assists. Stay in attack mode and get to the free throw line more than twice. Stop throwing jump passes to Matthew Dellavedova in the fourth quarter. Be the aggressor, not the facilitator.

It’s an extremely small sample size, but LeBron is currently enveloped in his worst statistical postseason in a long time. James is averaging 25.4 points, his second worst average in 10 years of playoff hoops. He’s also posting a career-high in turnovers (5.0 per game), and career-lows in free-throws attempted (just 5.8 per game) and three-point percentage (4-of-23, 17%).

The blueprint to beating LeBron has been to knock him down early and kick him while he’s on the ground. The Celtics accomplished this mission in 2008 in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Boston won the first two games against Cleveland and went onto win the series in Game 7 at the TD Garden.  The 2007 Spurs and 2006 Pistons also won their respective series by putting LeBron behind the proverbial 0-2 eightball.

In all three of those situations, LeBron met his maker because of superior defensive pressure. This plays right into the hands of what Chicago head coach (and former top Celtics assistant) Tom Thibodeau wants to do. His brilliant schemes center around guarding as five-man units. The Bulls were able to keep LeBron out of the paint in the opener, which is extremely ideal. Chicago also went under most ball screens, which took away driving lanes and dared LeBron to fling jumpers.

Cavaliers head coach David Blatt has a shorthanded deck of cards, something that Chicago fans know far too well. Blatt looked baffled at times trying to fine tune his rotation on the fly, but things finally started to settle in late on Monday night. Cleveland still needs to be creative though and find ways to free up James and Kyrie Irving moving toward the basket.

Jimmy Butler blanketed LeBron in one of the better efforts we’ve seen against the King in Game 1. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Butler guarded James for 73 of 75 possessions when the two shared the floor. LBJ was 7-of-18 from the floor with five turnovers in that head-to-head matchup.

Expecting that night in and night out from Butler just isn’t realistic. LeBron cannot and will not stay quiet for long. The four-time Most Valuable Player and two-time NBA champion has been downright lethal when his teams have needed him most. You can almost sense a surgical performance with Cleveland’s back against the wall.

When asked what he expects from LeBron on Wednesday, Butler’s first four words said it all.

“To try to win. Everybody is saying he’s going to be aggressive. I thought he was kind of aggressive last game. If he has to take it up a notch, that’s fine.”

Tonight’s tilt should again be decided in the final minutes. And if No. 23 isn’t the best player on the floor, the Bulls will return to the Windy City with a commanding 2-0 series lead.