LeBron James had 46 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists in the Cavs’ Game 6 win over the Celtics in Cleveland, forcing the series back to Boston for a decisive Game 7.
James’ performance was ridiculous, but it also is what’s become expected of him in an elimination game. There’s been a lot of chatter around Game 6 and Game 7 about how insanely good LeBron has been in elimination games since coming back to the Cavs in 2014 and it’s all warranted. He’s been pretty fantastic in elimination games throughout his entire career, but the last seven performances stand out on an entirely different level.
LeBron James has scored at least 40 points or recorded a triple-double in each of his last seven elimination games:
2016 FIN G5 – 41/16/7
2016 FIN G6 – 41/8/11
2016 FIN G7 – 27/11/11
2017 FIN G4 – 31/10/11
2017 FIN G5 – 41/13/8
2018 EC1 G7 – 45/8/7
2018 ECF G6 – 46/11/9— Justin Kubatko (@jkubatko) May 26, 2018
LeBron James has played in 22 elimination games in his postseason career. In those games:
* 34.1 points per game (highest in NBA history)
* seven 40-point games (most in NBA history)
* five triple-doubles (most in NBA history)— Justin Kubatko (@jkubatko) May 26, 2018
Vegas sportsbooks have taken notice of LeBron’s propensity for putting up rather insane numbers when the Cavs need them the most and that led the Westgate SuperBook to post the prop bet point total for LeBron in Game 7 at an all-time record number, 38 points.
LeBron's prop bet of 38 points @LVSuperBook is believed to be highest of his career
— Doug Kezirian (@DougKezirian) May 27, 2018
Highest of any player ever, actually https://t.co/VbHvzE4C3q
— Doug Kezirian (@DougKezirian) May 27, 2018
It’s an absurd number to see for one player’s point total, but history indicates the Over is probably a pretty good play. Given the Cavs have to play this game without Kevin Love, it’ll require a monster LeBron performance plus his teammates stepping up to get to a fourth straight Finals. Given how poorly his teammates have performed this postseason, those that would want to back the Cavs in this game might feel more comfortable simply betting on LeBron showing up and showing out than on him being able to carry the team to the next round.
