Unbelievable.
Ballex News June 1st, 2007 (Visited 1781 times)
Lebron James has come up with a performance we all knew he was capable of and we all had been waiting for. In a double overtime victory, the Cleveland Cavaliers have taken one game ahead of the Detroit Pistons 3-2.
Here are the stats: 48 points, 7 assists, 9 rebounds, 10 of 14 freethrows and 2 out of 3 three point attempts, two at each overtime period, both just at the right moment to steal the thunder away from Detroit whom at various times looked like they were about to pull away.
In a performance heralded as ‘one of the most spectacular in NBA Playoff history’, the game itself was a heart pounder, with 22 lead changes and 16 times tied.
But inasmuch as Lebron won this one, he could very well have ended it when he had the chance to put his team ahead by one point at the freethrow line. With 2:17 left, James was fouled by Rasheed Wallace, where he uncharacteristically missed both. The Cavaliers’s play in the two overtimes was also far from flawless, depending on James 100% of the time to score. The last Cavalier player to score other than James was off an Zydrunas Ilgauskas (16 pts) layup at the 7:48 mark in the 4th quarter, putting them ahead by 3, 79-76.
After that it was all LeBron James, scoring the last 25 points on dunks and layups that had the Pistons reeling.
The Pistons played well inspite of their loss, with all 5 starters scoring in the double figures. ‘Mr. Bigshot’ Chauncey Billups had the chance to win the game at the end of the first overtime via a jumper over Eric Snow, but it just missed going in.
The Pistons now face a do or die situation in Cleveland two days from now. They will have to do so without the services of Antonio McDyess, who was ejected and suspended after a flagrant foul on Anderson Verajao, who was going for a layup. McDyess appeared to have clotheslined Verajao on the neck, with LeBron James just managing to avoid getting a technical foul called on him for confronting McDyess just after the incident.
Pic credits: http://nba.com/cavaliers
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June 1st, 2007 12:50
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