Early in the second quarter of the Cavs game against Miami Monday night, I looked at fellow scribes Brian Windhorst and Bob Finnan and said: "Is this an NBA game?" The level of play to that point had not been that impressive.
But then LeBron James entered the game following his second-period break, and scored on consecutive driving layups.
He then added a dunk on a breakaway as Miami's Dwayne Wade sent James sprawling while trying for the block. James' teammates jumped up and celebrated as if they'd won the lottery. Wade was as high as James on the play, and had his hands above the ball. James muscled his way to the rim and slammed it down with both hands.
That play set off one of the more incredible scoring flurries between two guys a fan can see.
Wade scored 17 of the Heat's final 19 points in the first half, James scored 20 of the Cavs final 22. One would make a shot, the other would match. The crowd seemed stunned by what it was watching, because what it was watching was ultra-special.
The Heat's Michael Beasley called it "the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life … I have never seen anything like that live. It was just amazing to watch."
But it was only prelude to an amazing finish — provided by James.
It all started when an eight-foot turnaround jumper he attempted with the Cavs down one was slightly blocked by Wade. The shot went up with about 27 seconds left, and the Cavs chose not to foul when Wade grabbed the loose ball.
Instead, they defended, with James taking Wade for the first time in the game.
When Wade tried to go behind his back on a pass off a pick and roll, James shot his hand out and knocked down the pass. He then grabbed the loose ball with about 7 seconds left and headed to the basket.
There, Quentin Richardson sent him flying, and Wade leaped, grabbed the rim and accidentally kicked James in the head.
How's this for drama? Two of the league's superstars both prone during a timeout, with a game in the balance.
But when the timeout ended James calmly strode back on the court and drained both free throws.
And he wasn't finished.
James went to the huddle and said he would guard Wade, to forget about a double-team. He did. Miami got the ball to Wade, who got a good shot off. But it hit off the back of the rim.
The ending obscured so many other amazing plays in quite an amazing game.
There was the Wade-James second quarter, when the two matched shot after shot after shot, then strode off the court smiling at each other — almost in awe at what had happened.
There was the James dunk.
There was Shaquille O'Neal knocking the ball and Jermaine O'Neal to the ground on a key block as time wound down. The block followed a play when O'Neal missed a shot and was late getting back. When he arrived, he arrived with force.
This was quite a game, closed out by one of the NBA's premier closers.
It's a game to remember.
It started slow — the Cavs played the first quarter like they were on South Beach — but picked up in intensity in the second quarter and finished with playoff-level excitement.
And it finished with James doing what he seems to do so often: Making the plays that win games.
Two defensive plays, one driving effort to win that ended in a violent collision and then taking the time to calm himself to make the free throws.
Wonder where the MVP news conference will be held this spring.
–Anderson Varejao had a very strong game with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Daniel Gibson shot well, making four-of-six threes and scoring 15 points. And O'Neal was strong inside, scoring 19 points.
–Wade missed two free throws with the Heat up 91-90 and 41 seconds left. He then had the pass to Haslem stolen by James. "We had what we wanted," he said. "A one-point lead with the ball before I turned it over. … It's just unfortunate I got careless with the ball …"
–Mike Brown on the huddle prior to Wade's last shot: "We were in the huddle and (James) said: 'Don't send him the double-team. I got him.' I said, 'OK, go get him.'"
–Said James of guarding Wade on that last possession: "Anything else would be uncivilized."
–You expected him to be sipping tea as he spoke.
–"It's like my responsibility," James said of the defensive assignment.
Tagged as:
Cleveland Cavaliers,
Dwayne Wade,
LeBron James
