Cavaliers 109, Pistons 107 (2OT) – It was possibly the most scintillating, spine-tingling quarter and overtime periods of basketball that I have had the fortune to watch in a long, long time. I have to pay it the highest compliment I know of: this game rivaled the best in Stanley Cup playoff hockey for me.
Where to start with King James, who gave us a display that revived the interest of many in the NBA playoffs after everyone declared the playoffs non-interesting since the Western Conference gave us Spurs-Jazz for a conference final. Well, he showed us what we knew or believed he had in him: 48 points, including the final 25 points and 29 of the Cavs’ last 30 points (the only exception being a Drew Gooden free throw.) The last second layup he made to win the game was an absolutely beautiful maneuver, graceful to the end, weaving his body through the defenders in the air that would attempt to stop him.
Here are some of the quotes from the recap, because my breathless assertions don’t do justice to what I watched — this game was where “Jordanesque” was absolutely necessary to describe the performance of LeBron James.
“We threw everything we had at him. We just couldn’t stop him.” – Detroit PG Chauncey Billups
“Somebody told me in the locker room that he scored 29 of our last 30 points and I could not believe it. Everybody keeps asking for more, and he keeps giving more. I feel bad that my words don’t do justice for what he did.” – Cavs coach Mike Brown
All hail the King.
(Photo: AP/Paul Sancya)
Filed under: NBA, NBA Playoffs |
Signal to Noise 
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I think it all comes back to passion. It’s like he had it all bottled up inside him and he was just waiting to unleash it. I wonder if he might end up feeling a bit drained in the next game though. There’s always the danger of that happening.