Back
on Sunday night, four-time MVP and three-time NBA champion LeBron James had one
of the worst games of his brilliant career where he had just 11 points on 4 for
13 shooting, six turnovers and no points in the fourth quarter as the Cavs lost
Game 3 111-108 and saw their series lead cut to 2-1. What has made him great
throughout his career, that will land him in the Hall of Fame on the first ballot
is his ability to bounce back and he did so with 34 points, 15 of those coming
in the fourth quarter as the Cavs won Game 4 112-99 on Tuesday night to take a
commanding 3-1 series lead. In the close out Game 5 at TD Garden in Boston, MA,
“King James” not only led the Cavs back to The Finals for a third year in a
row, he made some major NBA Playoff history where he surpassed who many
consider the best to ever play on the hardwood.
At
the 2:42 mark of the third quarter, James hit a three-pointer that increased
the Cavs’ lead to 103-71, but it moved him pass Hall of Famer and six-time NBA
champion with the Chicago Bulls, Michael Jordan to become the all-time leading
scorer in playoff history.
James
finished the night with 35 points, on 13 for 18 from the field, including 4 for
8 from long range with eight boards, eight assists and three steals in 35
minutes as the Cavs won at the Celtics 135-102, winning the series 4-1 and
advancing to The Finals to meet up with the back-to-back-to-back Western
Conference Champion Golden State Warriors, which will begin on Thursday, June
1.
That
triple put James at 5,989 playoff points he has scored in his postseason
career. To bring this accomplishment into full context, Jordan scored 5,987
points in his playoff career in 179 games, and shot 4,497 shots to reach that
point. James has played 212 games in his playoff career and scored 5,995 points
on 4,379 shots. To further illustrate what we all have had a chance to witness
this postseason, James has scored 30-plus points in 10 of the 12 Cavs 12 playoff
games. That is amazing for a guy that was not known for his scoring when he
entered the NBA out of high school 13 years ago.
In
fact, there have been many in NBA circles that have compared the three-time
Finals MVP’s game to that of Hall of Famer and five-time champion with the Los
Angeles Lakers, Earvin “Magic” Johnson because James feels he is at his best
when he is getting the rest of his teammates involved over the course of an NBA
game as well as scoring himself. It was seeing what Jordan did in his career
that gave James the vision of what it means to be great, while also saying he
will never be like him.
“I
think I fell in love with the game because of Mike. Just seeing what he was
able to accomplish” James said during the postgame presser on Thursday night. “When
you’re growing up and you seeing Michael Jordan, it’s almost like a God. So, I’d
never believed I could be Mike.”
While
he may never be Michael Jordan, no matter how many more rings he wins, James
with what he has done in his career to this point has been nothing short of
sensational and of all the records he has set in his career, this is the one
that means the most to him, which he said prior to Thursday night’s contest.
“It’s
just a personal goal of mine,” James said. “It has nothing to do with passing
him in rings; passing him in points; passing him in MVPs. It’s my personal goal
to keep me motivated. That’s all.”
With
each milestone that James has achieved, he has always approached it with a
humble outlook, a respect for being able to have his name in the same sentence
as some of the greats to ever lace up their kicks on the professional hardwood,
and having the love and respect from his teammates that get the opportunity to
witness those milestones.
There
was a moment at the end of the third quarter where the cameras caught All-Star
starting lead guard of the Cavs Kyrie Irving, who followed up his playoff
career-high 42-point performance with 24 points on Thursday night barking and
in the ear of James, who had a towel over his head.
Irving,
who averaged 25.8 points in the five games against the C’s, said to NBA on TNT
pre-game and postgame host of “Inside the NBA,” presented by KIA Ernie Johnson
that he was telling James to not take the moment of surpassing Jordan.
“That’s
an iconic moment. What he did for the culture and honestly for the game of
basketball is nothing short of legendary, and I want him to enjoy it,” he said.
“He always shows great humility for all his accomplishments, but this is one he
really wanted and as a team it was out job to bring him up to that, and I’m
glad he’s accomplished it and as well getting back to The Finals.”
What
made this night even more iconic is that James will be making his seventh
straight trip to The Finals, which makes him the first non-Celtic to achieve
that and he is just the second player in NBA history to do that, which ties him
with Hall of Famer and lead guard on many of the Celtics title teams back in
the day Bob Cousy.
For
all that James has individually accomplished in his career, he has always been
about the success of the team and when the team plays well, that gives him more
satisfaction that any individual check mark on his career resume and this game
was the best example of that.
James
on this night became just the second player in postseason history at the
Celtics to have 35-plus points, with eight boards and eight assists was Hall of
Famer Oscar Robertson in Game 5 of the 1963 Eastern Divisional Finals with 36
points 12 rebounds and 10 assists for the Cincinnati Royals in a 125-120 loss
on Apr. 6th of that year. His team scored 135 points, setting a new franchise
history, which was five points better than the 130 they scored in their
44-point victory at the Celtics in Game 2 back on May 17, which was also their
13th straight win in the postseason, dating back to last year’s
Finals. Their 41-point lead (72-31) at intermission of that contest set a new
NBA playoff-record, and they led by as many as 50 in the contest. In the
opening half of Game 5, the Cavaliers set a new franchise record scoring 75
points, as they led 75-57 after the first 24 minutes, which began with a
franchise record 43 points in the first quarter. It was the third time in the
series that the defending champions scored 40 points or more in a quarter.
The
Cavs with their close out win in Boston remained perfect on the road with their
seventh consecutive victory and improved them to an NBA best 21-7 away from
Quicken Loans Arena dating back to 2015. Against their own conference in the
postseason, the Cavs improved their record to 36-5.
After
the Game 3 loss on Sunday where he played poorly, there was a lot of question
was what happened to LeBron James, who had more turnovers with six than field
goals made with four. The next two games showed why he is the best in the game
now and one of the best of all-time and he surpassed who many fans and analysts
consider to be the best to ever play in the NBA. Along the way, he has taken it
all in with a humble approach; the focus being on team success and winning
championships, while taking each moment in and having as Irving said to Johnson
during the Eastern Conference Trophy presentation about the one word to
describe the Cleveland Cavaliers the last three seasons gratitude.
“I
think we’re eternally grateful all the time we’re around each other,” he said. “We
spend almost every day with each other. We sacrifice everything and it’s always
worth it. We understand that the journey doesn’t stop here and were not
satisfied and we go back to the promise land, which is The Finals.”
Information,
statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 5/25/17 3 p.m. edition of “NBA: The
Jump” on ESPN presented by La Quinta Inns & Suites with Rachel Nichols,
Scottie Pippen, Paul Pierce and Tracy McGrady; 5/25/17 8:30 p.m. Game 5 of
Eastern Conference Finals on TNT presented by Samsung Gear S3 with Marv Albert,
Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, Kristen Ledlow and David Aldridge; 5/25/17 11 p.m.
edition of “Inside the NBA” on TNT, presented by KIA with Ernie Johnson, Kenny
Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal; 5/26/17 7 a.m. edition of ABC’s “Good
Morning America,” with Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, Amy Robach,
Michael Strahan and Ginger Zee; www.nba.com/playoffs/2017/eastseries7; www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/1966/lebron-james
and http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cleveland_Cavaliers_seasons.
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