LeBron leads Cleveland to a double-overtime victory over Detroit.

[rickortreat]

LeBron had 48 pts. and scored 29 of the last 30 pts. for the Cavaliers.  He looked like MJ out there tonight. 

To be honest, I thought that with LeBron carrying the entire load, that Cleveland would blow it, but he came through, including a drive down the lane at the end to put his team up by 2 with 2.2 sec. left. to seal the win.

Cleveland's offense looked terrible at the end. No plays, just set a pick and let LeBron create a shot. Detroit looked like they couldn't put the Cavs away.  They got a lead but couldn't hold it.  They played defense as well as they could, even throwing two players at LeBron, but they couldn't stop him.

This puts Cleveland up 3-2 in the series with game 6 at home. Detroit has come back from this before, but LeBron has gone to the next level.

They better come up with some better plays for the next game.  It's not that they can't rely on LeBron, but they shouldn't have to.

[Reality]

Did Detroit catch on that Lebron was the only Cav that was gonna shoot
Still many excellent scores by 'Bron.

Kobe haters might point to this as yet more obvious proof that Lebron is better, but i think it's legit that Kobsters teamates, while certainly just as good (better?) then Lebrons were not 100% for the playoffs. 
Kwame, Lamar Odom.

[Lurker]

The Cavs are really underrated as far as defense and rebounding are concerned.  If we insist on turning this into a Lakers related thread    then I'm not so sure that the Lakers are all that more talented. 

However the biggest difference is that the Cavs play as a TEAM!  Cavs coach (Brown) and GM (Ferry) both came out of Pop's system.  Brown's first year (last year) was a learning one for the team in that he came in preaching defense.  It took a while for it to set in but they play a very aggressive, energetic defense.  It is that defense that has made Billups look "old". 

[Reality]

Didn't Michael Finley also have something to do with the Cavs victory last night?

And if this  is about my inadvertantly leaving you off The Days of Our Kobe movie cast, i sincerely apologize.  Correction made.

[Lurker]

Didn't Michael Finley also have something to do with the Cavs victory last night?

I think it was Barry...he has been lighting up the league ever since his slow start.

And if this  is about my inadvertantly leaving you off The Days of Our Kobe movie cast, i sincerely apologize.  Correction made.

I"m still trying to figure out exactly when Kobe got involved in the Eastern Conference Finals.  Maybe it is just a subconcious love affair of yours that "forces" you to type Kobe's name in every post.

[Reality]

I"m still trying to figure out exactly when Kobe got involved in the Eastern Conference Finals. 

  That's why I'm the GM and we have staff keep you clear of the Marketing Dept.  And yes i love the income Kobe generates.

lurker  I think it was Barry...he has been lighting up the league ever since his slow start.

Are you dissing Barrdawgs 3-4 from Treyville in Gm 2s pivitol 105-96 win over Utah?

[westkoast]

Wow I feel like an idiot for not watching the game.  I knew it was on but had so much stuff to do before hand I forgot to TiVO it.  Can't believe I missed one of Lebron's defining moments in his career.  I don't have to see the game to know how big he was.

Can you guys believe that there were people out there who picked this guy to be this good before he turned 18 years old?  For all the times they've been wrong about young talent there sure as heck were spot on with Lebron.  The hype was deserved.

[Lurker]

lurker  I think it was Barry...he has been lighting up the league ever since his slow start.

Are you dissing Barrdawgs 3-4 from Treyville in Gm 2s pivitol 105-96 win over Utah?

Do you REALLY want to discuss Barry's post season performance?

brent barry 15 games 12.1 minutes  FG 17-49 .347  3PT 11-39 .282

[Reality]

lurker  I think it was Barry...he has been lighting up the league ever since his slow start.

Are you dissing Barrdawgs 3-4 from Treyville in Gm 2s pivitol 105-96 win over Utah?

Do you REALLY want to discuss Barry's post season performance?

brent barry 15 games 12.1 minutes  FG 17-49 .347  3PT 11-39 .282

No.  This is a Lebron thread, which means it's a Lebron-Kobe thread.
Could we pachage Barry in a trade for Kobe.  His salary of 5 mil could help.
Barrdog could still be a contributor in the Finals, but for 2007 playoffs its been all Findawg so far.  Findawg has been way way better then Barry.  If you want me to eat crow, i am eating it.  MMmmmnn.  More crow please. 

[WayOutWest]

Can't believe the Pistons couldn't get the ball out of LeBrons hands.  Double team him at half court since he was the only guys scoring.  I thought the Cavs blew two opportunities to win the game but I guess it didn't matter cause they won it on their third try.

[rickortreat]

This was one of the best playoff performances by a single player I've seen in a very long time.  MJ isn't even a recent memory anymore, but you may remember him as the Cavalier Killer.  He also had to go through a very tough Detroit team to get to the finals and when he did that was his comming out party.  Everyone knew MJ was great before, but those playoff games where he took control and willed his team to win were what made him into the legend he is.

LeBron now seems to be doing the same thing, only he's doing it a lot sooner in his career than MJ did.  LeBron came into the league with an NBA body, it took MJ a few years to bulk up enough. Also the league in the East is much weaker than when MJ was playing.

Only problem is, I don't think Cleveland can handle San Antonio in a series. Still, if they can give Detroit trouble on the boards and hustling for balls, they may surprise me. Then again, when a player is so hot that he barely misses, he can steal a game for you against even the best teams.  There's only one ball and alternating possessions. It comes down to which team converts more of it's possessions into points. Close games coming down to the wire, I'd really want LeBron on my team more than anyone right now, including TD!

[Lurker]

Close games coming down to the wire, I'd really want LeBron on my team more than anyone right now

Check the results of games 1 & 2 of the ECF.

[JoMal]

Back to LeBron, I watched the end of regulation through the end of the game, and this kid is thoroughly impressing the heck out of me. Not only is he the "anti-Kobego", but he also seems to have the support of his teammates, even though they don't get all that involved. Might be because, of the ten shots they took while James was scoring the final points for the Caveliers, they made exactly - zero.

Don't see how LeBron can duplicate such an effort in the next game without some support, but then the guy was making fadaway three pointers like they were layups late in that game, over and over again.

But then he was making layups over and over again like they were King James' three pointers, so what do I know.

[westkoast]

Back to LeBron, I watched the end of regulation through the end of the game, and this kid is thoroughly impressing the heck out of me. Not only is he the "anti-Kobego", but he also seems to have the support of his teammates, even though they don't get all that involved. Might be because, of the ten shots they took while James was scoring the final points for the Caveliers, they made exactly - zero.

Don't see how LeBron can duplicate such an effort in the next game without some support, but then the guy was making fadaway three pointers like they were layups late in that game, over and over again.

But then he was making layups over and over again like they were King James' three pointers, so what do I know.

You are wrong because his ego is MASSIVE.  There are plenty of reports of it, just not by the sports media because it is not all that interesting of stories.  He does however have a huge ego and many people have talked about it.  The difference is he is not dumb enough to get himself into trouble for people to hate on him.

With that said his ego could be the size of Texass and it wouldn't mean a damn thing based on his play in this series.