The Milwaukee Bucks did an admirable on LeBron James Wednesday night, and the box score even reflected that reality for the game’s first 36 minutes. But the Cleveland Cavaliers superstar suddenly found his team in a dogfight at the beginning of the fourth quarter, summoning a crunch-time performance seemingly out of thin air thereafter that only he could.
James entered the final stanza with 11 points, six rebounds, and five assists on 5-of-9 shooting. Great numbers for a mere mortal and even respectable ones for the four-time MVP. But a pair of angry first quarter dunks notwithstanding, it was obvious throughout the contest’s majority that LeBron was content to play a supporting role.
A lackluster Cleveland third quarter changed all that, though, and forced James to emerge as his normally dominant self lest his club fail to take advantage of a Chicago Bulls loss and clinch the 2-seed in the Eastern Conference.
His fourth quarter statistics aren’t eye-opening by his standards: 10 points, three rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block. But the intensity and timeliness with which LeBron compiled them indeed spurred the Cavs to a 104-99 win more than anything else.
There was this massive tip dunk with just under six minutes remaining:
A windup swat of Zaza Pachulia’s layup as the game clock read 1:07:
And the dagger pull-up three-pointer over Jared Dudley that put the Cavs up five with only 14 seconds to play:
Cleveland isn’t the best team in the NBA or the league’s championship favorite.
The Golden State Warriors have enjoyed a historically dominant regular season and expect to enjoy similar playoff success. The San Antonio Spurs are playing the best basketball they have all season and could rightfully be considered the most likely team to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy in June. And the Atlanta Hawks are the ‘Dubs and Spurs East, a group replete with talent that maximizes it with utmost two-way continuity and rare chemistry.
We’d pick any of those squads to win a title before the Cavaliers.
But doubt creeps in when voicing that assessment nonetheless. What happens when LeBron decides Cleveland just won’t lose? When he turns it on full-tilt? When he decides it’s time for the opponent to “get out of here?”
Basketball is a five-man game and always will be. But if any player in the world can single-handedly will his team to a championship, it’s most definitely still LeBron – a scary reality of which he reminded the NBA with aplomb on Wednesday night.
[Vine via Vinnyviner]
