Data story · NBA Playoffs
LeBron James in the NBA Finals, 2011–2020.
From 2011 to 2020 LeBron James’s teams played 51 NBA Finals games and lost more than they won, 22 to 29, and were outscored 5,272 to 5,103. They still won four of the nine series. Six strips show how.
Every strip on this page is a real NBA Playoffs strip from the Huezle app, drawn by the app’s own code. More about NBA Playoffs.
How to read the strips
Each strip is one game, tip-off on the left and the final buzzer on the right, one band per minute. A band is purple when the away team led at the end of that minute, gold when the home team led, and pale when it was close or tied. A band is at full colour at an 18-point lead.
The strips measure the score, not any one player, and the colours mean away and home, not his team and the other one. His team had home court in 2011, 2013 and 2020; in the other six Finals the opponent did.
Miami, 2011–2014: a loss, two titles, a loss
- 2011 G2 · DAL 95–93
- 2012 G4 · MIA 104–98
- 2014 G5 · SAS 104–87
- Away Leading
- Tied
- Home Leading
The Miami years started with a loss to Dallas, and Game 2 is the one that got away: the Heat led by 15 in the fourth quarter at home and lost by two. A year later they beat Oklahoma City in five, and Game 4 was won from 14 down, the biggest deficit any of his Finals teams overcame in this data. In 2013 they beat San Antonio in seven, surviving Game 6 in overtime (see every Finals Game 7). The 2014 rematch went 4–1 to the Spurs, and Game 5 is its whole story: Miami, the away team, led by 16 in the first quarter, then the strip turns gold and stays gold.
Cleveland, 2015–2018: four Finals, one opponent
- 2016 G3 · CLE 120–90
- 2016 G7 · CLE 93–89
- Away Leading
- Tied
- Home Leading
Back in Cleveland he reached four straight Finals, all against Golden State, and won one. That one is the comeback from 3–1 down in 2016. Game 3 that year was the biggest Finals win of his career in this data, by 30, with Cleveland ahead at every minute mark. Game 7 in Oakland was the opposite picture, pale almost throughout and won by four; the 2016 Finals game by game has the rest of the series. Golden State then won 2017 in five and swept 2018.
Los Angeles, 2020
- Away Leading
- Tied
- Home Leading
His ninth Finals in this data came in a season paused by the pandemic and finished at a single site near Orlando with no crowds, so home and away are only labels on these strips. The Lakers beat Miami, his old team, 4–2, and the clincher is the plainest strip of his Finals: the Lakers were never behind at a minute mark, and ahead from the 8th on.
Four titles, four Finals MVPs. He was Finals MVP in all four series his teams won. His first Finals, with Cleveland in 2007, is older than this data, which starts with the 2010–11 season. Every figure here is the score at the end of a minute.
For the team on the other side of four of these series, see the Warriors dynasty in the Finals, and for the whole era, the NBA Finals since 2011.
Huezle shows you one playoff strip at a time. Could you spot a LeBron Finals game from its shape?
Download on the App StoreFree on iPhoneQuestions
How many NBA Finals has LeBron James played in?
Ten: 2007 with Cleveland, 2011 to 2014 with Miami, 2015 to 2018 with Cleveland, and 2020 with the Lakers. He won four of them, in 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2020.
What is LeBron James’s record in NBA Finals games since 2011?
His teams went 22–29 in the 51 Finals games from 2011 to 2020, winning four of the nine series.
What was LeBron James’s biggest NBA Finals comeback?
Of games won from behind, Game 4 in 2012: Miami trailed Oklahoma City by 14 and won 104–98. As a series, 2016, when Cleveland came back from 3–1 down to beat Golden State.
More guides
- The 2016 NBA Finals, game by game.The 2016 NBA Finals as minute-by-minute strips: how Cleveland came back from 3–1 down to beat Golden State, and how close Game 7 really was.
- The NBA Finals since 2011, in five strips.Sixteen NBA Finals from 2011 to 2026 in five minute-by-minute strips: the Heat years, Warriors against Cavaliers, and a run of new champions.
- The Warriors dynasty in the NBA Finals, told in strips.Golden State’s six NBA Finals from 2015 to 2022, drawn minute by minute: four titles, two defeats, and the strange pattern in their Game 3s.
- NBA tip-off trivia: last postseason, minute by minute.The 2026 NBA playoffs as strips of colour before the new season: the Knicks’ 29-point Finals comeback, a 61-point lead, a road Game 7 and a double overtime.
Now try naming one yourself.
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