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.
What a great game to watch live! Pat, I agree totally with you about the start of the game – I looked over to my wife and said "man, this is going to be a long night – we have no energy and our body language is terrible". We were making sloppy passes, dribbling the ball off our feet, etc… The 2nd quarter was special with Wade and Lebron going back and forth, but I remember last year's game in Miami that was like that also. Cavs now 4-0 when I've seen them in person in downtown Miami. A great memorable game to watch, but then on the way home, the morons in this city decided to close interstate 95 north down on a game night – couldn't believe it. Took us way too long to get home to the west Broward County area.
And Roadkill – on the other thread you indicated that I hate Pat. What gave you that idea? Just because I had strong disagreements with Pat about Mangini and a few other things, doesn't mean I hate him. Heck, if I hated Pat, I wouldn't read his blogs or articles.
Tim Tim Tim Its just a teeny tiny fracture umm err i mean dont take it personal ….your in Fla Pats in Fla and im in OH IO Its cold and i try to infuse some T-n-C humor …..to agree to disagree is my long time motto…..By the way i looked for you and Hank in the crowd i think i spotted you older guy thinning hair with a nice tan and a Gold Necklace ..i did not see anyone with Horns so Hank must have stayed home…also the PD has some guy calling himself AkronAL you hear that ALAN T ???
It was a great game to watch and the Cavs were lucky to get out with a win. Lebron is amazing and imo, the best player in the NBA.
But that being said, the one thing that bugs me about him over the last 2 or so years is his court drama. Faking injury, throwing his hands wildly about when he doesn't get a call he thinks he should.
The dunk on Wade in the 2nd was awesome and should've left it at that. Every replay afterwards and on Sportscenter later, you were like WOW!! but then a split second later, there he is flailing his arms about like some kid trying to draw attention from an inattentive adult. That drama totally destroyed what otherwise was an amazing amazing play. Not only that but in attempting to draw attention to the "vicious" hit he took, did anyone see how he actually landed? THAT has greater potential for an actual injury than anything that happens to him on the court. He started to flail about before he hit the ground and his one leg hit very awkwardly.
And then the play at the very end of the game where he lay on the court for 5 minutes. Oh my god, everyone knew he wasn't hurt, everyone saw on the replay what amounted to a brushing of his head by Wade. In fact, Lebron turned his whole body around and was intensely watching the trajectory of the ball. Only when he realized the shot wasn't going in and then gets tapped on the head by Wade did he decide to go into full drama queen mode and have a seizure right there on the court. His body and arms going all over the place and lying down on the court so no one could see his face. Players don't go so over the top when they actually do get hurt, they crumble and their facial reactions are visible. Lebron's acting hurt is so unnatural the way he goes about it.
I HATE that part about his game, its totally unnecessary and juvenile and needs to stop for a player of his talent. Lest he be compared to the boy who cried wolf should he happen to get hurt at some point in his career.
*Said James of guarding Wade on that last possession: "Anything else would be uncivilized."*
Ah, flashbacks of those Charles Barkley Old Spice commercials. Wonder if Chuck said the same thing after he was busted last year in Scottsdale.
Rick, I agree about LBJ's dramatics, but I thought Wade did the same thing on that last play when they both hit the court. Neither one looked like they were actually hurt on the play, but they both stayed prone on the court for a minute.
Maybe they are trying to emulate the WWE.
Rick, Brian: LeBron isn't the worst… that title belongs to Kobe Bryant. He's got shades of Bill Laimbeer in his antics. Check the game last week and the one at Christmas. I'm glad I only have to watch Bryant a couple times a year
It was a good game and the fellas have squeeked out a couple close ones in the face of the adversity. Hopefully, they'll be able to get a flow going with the new guys in the rotation (welcome back Jamario!) and we'll be OK till Delonte & Mo come back for the final push.
well said Elizabeth may i call you Liz? or Beth? or stay with Elizabeth … some one must be Civilized at these blogs …..not everyone has to be mean! GO CAVS!!! I like the Colts over the Saints !!!
People like Rick should get kicked in the head and see how they like it – why don't you have your wife kick you in the head, please, please, please. leBron gets 60% of the calls on flagrent fouls. You better believe he has to emphasize the hits because he should get 6-8 more foul shots a game. James takes more hard hits without foul calls than any player in the league (Shaq gets ripped off too). Maybe we can raise money by having a "kick Rick in the head" fundraiser. Like 3 kicks in the head for $10 bucks. Steel toed boots optional.
Finally, Rick writing something that is on-topic and isn't intended for the sole purpose of destroying both the parents and the genitalia of another commenter. I was thinking the exact same thing about that dunk immediately after it happened. It was absolutely preposterous, the worst master thespian work I have ever seen. At least until James' next game, when he does a variation of the same thing. Even Varejao was overheard whispering in LeBron's ear, "Uhh … Black Enchilada, you call that acting?" James looked like Jim Brown when he got shot in "The Dirty Dozen." That is, if Brown had never rehearsed a day in his life.
For you guys writing about the excessive drama from LBJ … yes he has that potential. But that last play … the speed was unbelievable. There is no way at all to capture how fast those guys were going on that last play on TV. Trust me … it was quite a collision — at breakneck speed. Literally.
Lebron must be a pretty good actor, because from where I was sitting in the upper deck behind the Cavs basket, it looked like he got hit pretty hard and was slammed to the floor. However, when I saw the reply on the big screen, it didn't look as bad as it did live. I was thinking "man, I've seen Lebron hit alot harder than this before – he must have landed the wrong way or something to still be on the ground." Oh, by the way, the Lebron dunk in the 2nd quarter was something to see live. He was running away from our side of the court. The speed in which he accelerated to the hoop and the lift he got on his jump were incredible.
yeah and Dale Sr didnt look like he hit the wall That HARD on TV Wonder if hes faking and now hanging with Elvis…just saying GO CAVS!!!!!!!! For my entire teenage thru young adult years 13-25 i always hoped the Cavs would get a Star Player (same for browns ,tribe) Cleveland teams always had decent to good teams but never that Super Duper USDA Prime Face of the League SUperStar! We got it and a LOCAL kid at that, i tell my kids to enjoy watching him you may never have this again,and yet some MORONS can never be happy and do nothing but whine even if your just yanking chains it is still Negative …Enjoy this kid gang if he goes he goes at least he wants a title for NE Oh just like the rest of us…..hell it beats complaining about that mess of a coach who needed a serious credible leader to bail his @$$ out! peace and love peace and love
I gave up hope After 3 trips to the AFC title with no Super Duper Bowl … now its just entertainment
I wasn't talking about the last play, which was a good play on James' part, but should have never happened if Wade hadn't decided to get too cute and/or pass like that lousy Daniel Gibson, who should be playing with Delonte West's Dynamo Moscow team. I mean, the guy has played 150 minutes in the past two games, purportedly as a point guard, and has a grand total of one assist when he hasn't been giving up 50 points on defense and snoozing the rest of the time. To put it into perspective, he has more new tattoos than he does new assists.
But I digress. On that last play, James was doing a very poor man's Paul Pierce on the floor, I don't care how fast it was going in real-time. A blind Italian barber with the old-fashioned barber pole swats a guy's head harder than Wade swatted James' noggin. Just silly how much he was playing it up. But I was talking specifically about the dunk, which was an outstanding individual play. But there hasn't been overacting that bad since Charles Manson auditioned for the lead role in Quentin Tarantino's film version of "Hamlet."