| LeBron Has Atlanta On Life Support Authored by Brian Reynolds - May 10, 2009 - 6:25 pm
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“Up seven to start the fourth, I didn’t want to let another momentum change,” James said. “So I asked coach to leave me in and he left me in. I just did what I had to do to help us win the game.”
LeBron was remarkable for the first three quarters - tallying 34 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists in 32 minutes of action. But it was the way in which he finished the game that make people draw comparisons to Michael Jordan. Forget the three to end the first quarter, the free throws to end the second, and the running jumper to end the third. It was the poise in the game’s final 12 minutes, in a hostile environment on the road, that makes LeBron James, well, LeBron James.
With the Hawks trailing by six and nine minutes still to play, James took over. He hit back-to-back fade away jumpers in the corner and each time turned to rappers T.I. and Jermaine Dupri as if to tell them this one is over. On the next possession, James attacked the hoop and found a wide-open Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who drew a foul and hit one of two free throws. Then, LeBron split the double team and sunk another fade away in the same corner.
In just two minutes, LeBron had taken all of the emotion out of the desperate Atlanta crowd. He increased the Cavs lead from 75-69 to 82-69. It was obvious that there wouldn’t be a momentum change, but he wasn’t done.
On the defensive end, James knocked away an alley-oop attempt to Al Horford. He then took the ball, split another double team and passed to Delonte West, who found a wide-open Joe Smith for a jumper. It was a great set-up assist that would only show up in a hockey box score. Following another Josh Smith jump shot, James took the in-bounds pass and went coast to coast for a lay-up. At this time the Cavs were up 86-71 with five minutes to play. Yes, this one was over.
James finished the game just short of another triple double with 47 points, 12 rebounds, and eights assists. After the game, he reflected on his performance.
“Anytime you get in a zone like that, it’s a great feeling,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how many guys they put on you. It doesn’t matter what the defense is doing. If they trap you, you feel like you can still continue to make shots. Tonight, it was once again one of those times.”
With the Hawks now one game away from goin’ fishing, Head Coach Mike Woodson doesn’t seem to have the slightest clue on how to handle LeBron.
“There’s not a whole lot you can do,” Woodson said. “Everybody says double, but he hit about eight or nine shots where you couldn’t even get double teams to. They were way beyond the three-point line. You talk about getting the ball out of his hands, but you have to do that three-quarters court [away from the basket] and that really exposes the defense.”
The phenomenal play from James has restarted the comparisons with the greatest player that ever played the game. Although Mike Brown said that you really can’t compare LeBron and Michael because they are two different people, he did address the fact that LeBron’s greatness has come without any college experience.
“If you are going to compare him to Jordan, you have to take in consideration that Michael played at a very high level and won a championship at a high level and played for a great coach and played with great players and against great players for three years out of high school,” Brown said. “You have to remember that Michael is three years ahead of LeBron, in terms of growth and so forth because of his time at North Carolina.”
There may never be an answer to if LeBron is better than Jordan. But, LeBron has a long career ahead of him and it seems to be only a matter of time, maybe only a few weeks, until he wins his first championship. There is no doubt that James seems ready for the opportunity.
“Playoffs is what I live for,” he said. “It’s what I workout for in the offseason and what I prepare for in the regular season. It’s the biggest stage in the world and I want to perform the best I can.”
- Brian Reynolds is a contributing writer from Emory University and can be reached at Brian.Matthew.Reynolds@gmail.com |
