Not long ago, I recall listening to a little sports talk radio (not something I typically do, so don’t judge me) as I embarked on a six-hour drive from Massachusettes to Maine. It was the week before the Super Bowl and fans had been asked to call in to make their predictions. One caller mentioned a certain defensive lineman, and specified that in order for his team to win said defensive lineman would be required to have a dominant game. The host agreed with the caller, and I thought oh yeah, this is why I never turn this sh!t on.
How could anyone feel so confident in such a specific assertion? Based on the couple of decades I’ve spent watching sports, if I’ve learned anything it’s that they’re unpredictable. I’ve always felt that it’s a bit, well, stupid to act as if I know exactly what needs to happen right down to an individual detail in order for one team to win.
Take the talk radio caller’s prediction, for example. What if that defensive lineman gets carted off with two broken legs on the opening drive, but the offense explodes for 40 points? How can he be so sure that something like this isn’t about to happen? Unless he’s a psychic by day, he can’t… yet he, like so many others, continues with his “analysis.” On the off chance that he’s right, he gets to say “I told you so!” If he’s wrong (and he probably will be), no one remembers anyway.
Yesterday, ESPN’s Magic Johnson submitted his prediction for Miami’s critical game four. According to my dad, who, for some reason, is always citing predictions made by the “experts” (stop doing that, dad), Magic decided LeBron’s magic number was 40.
Three hours later, LeBron toes the free-throw line. He’s got 38 points, and Miami leads by six with 11 seconds to go.
As I spent the first three paragraphs explaining, I’m not an advocate of most predictions, particularly ones of the highly-specific variety. However, I must admit that I agreed with Magic’s assessment of yesterday’s situation right from the get-go. I wouldn’t have put a number on it—Magic just so happened to get lucky and hit it right on the nose—but I would’ve been willing to say the Heat needed a dominant offensive performance from LeBron James in order to win game four and avoid a perilous situation.
Having seen the game, I think it’s fair to say Miami would be down 1-3 had LeBron been anything less than imperious.
The Heat got off to another horrendous start, trailing 9-0 at the nine-minute timeout. The role players were already proving their ineptitude, dribbling off their feet and fumbling passes that should’ve led to layups. Dwyane Wade hadn’t yet shown any sign that he was going to do anything, and, to make matters worse, the Pacers looked as good as the Heat did bad.
Finally, with nearly four and a half minutes gone, LeBron was able to find a lane to the basket and cut through it for a powerful slam dunk. About a minute later he spotted a wide-open Shane Battier for a slump-busting three-pointer. He set up another couple of threes for Mario Chalmers, then scored three straight field goals of his own (all of which came in the paint) to finish out the first quarter. Throw in a free throw and he’d racked up 9 points and 3 assists in the opening 12 minutes. However, the Heat still trailed by seven. The problem? Aside from the 18 points LeBron contributed to, Miami hadn’t scored any.
LeBron continued to plug along through the early stages of the second quarter. He scored 6 more (and created an easy deuce for Joel Anthony) to bring his squad to within one at the six-minute mark. They trailed by 8 at the half, though, due to Indiana’s solid outside shooting and some aggressive play from Darren Collison. James’ total was 19.
Coming out of the half, LeBron scored Miami’s first five. Next, he contributed what may have been his finest highlight and helped to spark a 25-9 run all in the same play. That play was a gorgeous no-look bounce pass to Dwyane Wade, who converted it into an easy layup. Wade, who has been inconspicuously quiet throughout much of the season, exploded for another 12 points in the quarter. LeBron continued to be aggressive as well, tacking nine more onto his total amidst Wade’s outburst. Incredibly, the two of them had actually scored 28 consecutive Miami Heat points until Udonis Haslem broke it up with a pair of free throws. I don’t recall how Udonis found himself at the line, but to say LeBron got him there would be a pretty safe bet. After all, he’d already racked up eight assists.
Despite the incredible play of both James and Wade, the lead was just six to start the fourth quarter. Still, I recall feeling quite confident in the Heat as it had become clear that the big two weren’t about to be stopped—especially LeBron, who had simply entered into beast-mode. Repeatedly, he manhandled the Pacers in the paint. On one possession he scored between three defenders at the rim, and on another he noisily hammered a stick-back dunk. “Nothing you can do,” said Hubie Brown.
Finally, after 43 minutes and 54 seconds of unstoppably-powerful play, LeBron had scored his 40 points (and picked up 9 assists along the way). Of his 23 attempts, all but 5 came within 14 feet of the basket. Each of his field goals were scored inside of that same zone. From the opening tip to his final free throw, LeBron’s will had been imposed.
As crazy as this may seem, LeBron’s 40 points may not have been his most important contribution. I’m 100% positive that Dwyane Wade does not drop 30 if LeBron doesn’t do such a fantastic job of setting the table. Dwyane is a great player, but he’s been struggling mightily (to say the least). He needed a little help to rediscover his rhythm, and LeBron absolutely delivered in that regard. If Wade can build on his game-four success, then yeah, I’d say LeBron did something more important than score 40 in yesterday’s victory.
Let us not forget that this remarkable performance comes with an afterthought of 18 rebounds, too.
Given the situation—no Chris Bosh, a struggling Dwyane Wade, the pressure of both the media and a potential 1-3 deficit—I think this game may have been one of LeBron’s best yet. I’d say the 48-pointer against Detroit still tops them all, but other than that… this one is up there. Taking a quick glance at his playoff log, here are three other games that measure up statistically (well, minus the rebounds):
*4/28/06: CLE 97, WAS 96: 41 PTS, 5 REB, 3 AST, 16-28 FG, 6-9 FT
*5/3/06: CLE 121, WAS 120: 45 PTS, 7 REB, 7 AST, 14-24 FG, 17-18 FT
*5/20/09: CLE 106, ORL 107: 49 PTS, 6 REB, 8 AST, 20-30 FG, 6-10 FT
All great games. However, Cleveland was never in danger of losing that series with Washington, so the pressure isn’t nearly comparable. Cleveland did lose to Orlando in ’09, but the pressure still wasn’t anything like it is now. It’s championship or bust at the moment, and a second-round loss to the Pacers… can you even imagine the media sh!t storm that that debacle would bring about?
So, if you take the situation into account, I think it’s safe to say LeBron played one of his finest games ever yesterday—maybe even his second best. It’s a damn good thing he did, too… not many of those 40 points were to spare.
But he ain’t clutch, though.
Whether you like LeBron or not, I sincerely hope you were able to appreciate the display you saw yesterday. To say it was special would be an understatement.
