Lebron Truly Was King James In Game 5
Superstar scored Cavs’ last 25 points and 48 overall in crucial victory over Pistons.
CLEVELAND — Greatness promised. Greatness delivered.
When LeBron James’ moment arrived, he was ready. Just like another No. 23.
Call it LeBron-esque.
With a tour-de-force performance that was one of the best in NBA playoff history, James shook the Detroit Pistons in Game 5 on Thursday night in 50 spellbinding minutes that included two nerve-racking overtimes.
The 22-year-old superstar soared like never before. He scored 48 points — the Cavaliers’ final 25 and 29 of their last 30 — to carry Cleveland within one win of its first trip to the NBA finals.
At Detroit’s suburban Palace, King James ruled.
“LeBron just wouldn’t let us lose,” Cavaliers guard Damon Jones said.
James stamped his growing reputation with all the fury of one of his thunderous slam dunks. He drove past Detroit’s defenders, elevated to shoot over the Pistons and twisted through their double and triple teams as if in a playground back home in Akron.
The 48 points were spectacular, but hardly tell the whole story. He scored them in the biggest game of his four-year career. He scored them in the most important game in Cleveland’s 37-year history. He scored them on the road, against the Pistons, one of the league’s toughest defensive teams.
And James — who added nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals — scored the 48 a little more than one week after being lambasted for his late-game decisions in Games 1 and 2, a pair of three-point losses.
James became the first player to score 25 straight points in the postseason, an effort rivaling almost anything Michael Jordan did in the playoffs.
“He just did what he felt he needed to do for us to win,” Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. “I don’t think he was trying to set any historical mark or anything. He just did what he felt he was supposed to do to help us win. I don’t know what he can’t do.”
He blasted through the lane for two monster dunks in the final 31 seconds of regulation, nailed impossible 3-pointers and capped his Motown masterpiece by knifing through three Pistons for a layup with 2.2 seconds left.
“We threw everything we had at him,” Chauncey Billups said. “We just couldn’t stop him. He was hitting everything. Not the dunks and layups, that was easy. But the threes, he was shooting over double teams.”
James outscored the Pistons 25-19 in the final 12:17 despite missing three free throws (he was 10-of-14 from the line). He also made a big defensive stop, picking off a pass by Tayshaun Prince with 2:13 left in the second OT and the Pistons up by two.
