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LeBron reportedly punched whiteboard in anger, played Finals with broken hand

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Game 1 of the NBA Finals sealed the fate of the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James in more ways than one.

The most obvious cause at the time was the one-two gut punch that was George Hill’s missed free throw with 4.7 seconds left and J.R. Smith’s inexplicable decision to run out the clock after an offensive rebound with the score tied.

LeBron James’s reaction said it all.

But now, after the Cavs were embarrassed at home in Game 4 108-85 on Friday and were swept out of the finals by Golden State, another reason emerges why Game 1 wrecked Cleveland.

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James punched a whiteboard in the locker room after the devastating loss and suffered a serious bone contusion, according to Sam Amick from USA Today:

After the Game 4 loss, James showed up at the postgame press conference with a brace on his right hand.

“What happened? Self-inflicted,” said James, who had 23 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.

“Postgame after Game 1, very emotional for a lot of different reasons. Understanding how important Game 1 is on the road for our ballclub, what that would have done for us, the way we played, the calls that was made throughout the course of that game,” said James.

“I had emotions on the game was taken away from us, I had emotions of, you just don’t get an opportunity like this on the road versus Golden State to be able to get a Game 1,” James added.

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“I let the emotions get the best of me and I pretty much played the last three games with a broken hand,” he continued.

While he never came close to the 51 points in Game 1, James still had 29 points in Game 2, 33 in Game 3 and 23 in Game 4.

Could this have been the last time we see King James in a Cleveland jersey? Time will tell.

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Dave is a lifelong sports fan who has been writing for The Wildcard since 2017. He has been a writer for more than 20 years for a variety of publications.
Dave has been writing about sports for The Wildcard since 2017. He's been a reporter and editor for over 20 years, covering everything from sports to financial news. In addition to writing for The Wildcard, Dave has covered mutual funds for Pensions and Investments, meetings and conventions, money market funds, personal finance, associations, and he currently covers financial regulations and the energy sector for Macallan Communications. He has won awards for both news and sports reporting.
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