LeBron James absolutely took over Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals and literally won the game by himself, he literally carried the team on his back, he literally was not human for the entire fourth quarter and overtime.
From the time the game was 79-76 Cavs with 7:48 left in the 4th, he scored 29 of Cleveland's 30 points, including their last 25. LeBron made 11 of 14 field goals, while his teammates missed 10 attempts. LeBron did go 5 of 9 from the line including two big misses.
But in the NBA you are judged by what you do when your team absolutely has to have a bucket. And at the end of regulation, in two such situations LeBron split the defense and got two dunks.
In the overtimes the Pistons had no way to play him. They tried trapping him and he broke through for layups. They tried laying off and he shot jumpshots over them. He was as unstoppable as any player has ever been.
If you didn't see the game you will probably never understand. And if you did, you'll probably never be able to explain it. Something special happened to LeBron James. He became a man, at least as far as the NBA is concerned. I guess it's a lot to expect from an 18 year old that he should have been playing like this from his rookie season but in his fourth year in the league he has come of age. He's one of the best players in the league and he has the ability to take over in the biggest spots. LeBron is special.
I pretty much agree with you...but I was still annoyed at the level of ball-licking done by the announcing crew. I believe they said things to the effect of "This may be the greatest performance in NBA history" about every 2 minutes. Thats probably an opinion thing depending on who you ask...but they just wouldn't stop.
ReplyDeleteBy the way...didn't you refer to Kobe as the best player in the NBA the other day? I think I disagree with you...not because of last night's performance...but just a good time to bring it up.
I'm glad others were up watching. Everyone loves to say a player has "arrived" after a big performance, but I believe the player must consistently excell in the clutch to be an elite player. I thought LeBron stepped his game up last year in the playoffs when he was clutch and aggressive (I think it was against the Wiz). So that's why I'm not a big fan of a player "arriving".
ReplyDeleteSorry, Just but it was one of the best playoff performances in NBA history hands down(Marv didn't define it as the greatest).Paul's right, it's hard to truely explain how great he was but: he scored THE LAST 25 POINTS FOR HIS TEAM (29 of final 30) and 48 of their 109(also 9 reb & 7 ast)! He didn't have and didn't need other teammates at the end(Lebron was trying to praise and thank his teammates afterward which was funny to listen to)Pistons tried defensive changes and failed. But it's pretty sad they couldn't stop him and make his teammates beat them. Lebron couldn't be stopped, in the 4th and 2 OTS, ON THE ROAD, in a huge playoff game. BTW- I hate Rasheed Wallace and he should not be allowed to play the game of basketball.
I wanted to reach through the screen and choke the announcers everytime they said it was the greatest performance in NBA History. They almost reached Dick Vitale annoying.
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