LeBron turns in another epic elimination-game performance

CLEVELAND -- After Friday’s Game 6 win over the Boston Celtics, LeBron James told a story about his first year playing little-league basketball. When his team won the championship, the head coach gave everyone an MVP trophy at the year-end banquet.

“I was taught the game the right way ever since I ever started playing the game of basketball,” James said. “It’s just been instilled in me since I was 9 years old ... of what it means to be in a situation where your teammates rely on you. Just making the right play, no matter if it’s a shot or if it’s a pass."

In the Eastern Conference finals against the Celtics, the Cleveland Cavaliers have needed the version of James that does everything: scoring, facilitating, rebounding, and dominating at both ends of the floor with his ability to attack the basket and his momentum-shifting, chase-down blocks.

Facing elimination in Game 6, James delivered. He played 46 minutes, scored 46 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and handed out nine assists while adding three steals and a block in a 109-99 win.

“Greatness. Championship pedigree. Giving it his all. We needed that,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said. “He carried us home as usual.”

The Celtics lost Games 3 and 4 at Quicken Loans Arena by a combined 39 points. Friday, they mustered a much stronger effort on the road. Terry Rozier and Jaylen Brown combined for 55 points on 21-of-34 shooting, hitting eight threes. The Celtics led by five after a quarter. They fought back from a double-digit deficit in the second half, and had several chances in the fourth quarter to complete the comeback. But every time, James had a response.

With under three minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Cavaliers up seven, James sized up Celtics rookie Jayson Tatum and hit a step-back three to push the lead back to double digits. On the next possession, from almost the exact same spot, he stepped back and hit another three in Tatum’s face, effectively putting the game away.

As he sauntered back down the floor with the home crowd roaring in approval, James allowed himself a moment of exhilaration and perhaps relief, pounding his chest with both fists and letting out a scream.

“The love of the game causes reactions like that,” James said. “Understanding the situation and understanding the moment that you're in. It was just a feeling that you can't explain unless you've been a part of it.”

Heading into Friday’s game, James had averaged 33.5 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 7.3 assists in 21 career elimination games. Among players who've appeared in at least three elimination games, he's averaged more points than anyone in NBA history.

“Best player in the game,” Brad Stevens said afterward.

“The guy amazes me every night,” George Hill said. “From the amount of minutes, the amount of years he got, the amount of fouls he gets on his body and guys he has hanging off his body - what he does night in, night out is something remarkable."

His Game 6 masterpiece should surprise no one given his history in elimination games. However, it becomes exceptional even for him when you consider that, at age 33 and in his 15th season, James played all 82 regular-season contests and has gone on to average 40.6 minutes per game in these playoffs, where he's putting up 33.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 8.8 assists.

James didn’t get his first rest in Game 6 until late in the third quarter. After injuring his ankle in the third quarter, he didn’t take a possession off. “I wasn’t coming out. I would have had to literally have a real, real, really bad injury,” James said, stopping to scan the podium for wood to knock on.

Given the team around him and how much he’s had to produce every night to get the Cavaliers this far, this is James’ most individually impressive postseason ever.

In Miami, James had Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. In Cleveland, at one point he had Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Irving demanded a trade and landed in Boston. Cleveland remade half its roster at the trade deadline. Love left Friday’s game in the first quarter and didn’t return.

James has spent the playoffs pushing his team over the finish line by himself while figuring out how to conserve his energy within each game and each series. Now, he’s a win away from what would be his eighth straight Finals appearance.

Sunday’s matchup in Boston presents another challenge. Love’s status is up in the air as he’s being evaluated for a concussion. The Cavs don’t have a lot of playoff experience on their roster. The Celtics are 10-0 at home in the postseason.

But the Cavaliers have the best player in the world in another elimination scenario, where no one in NBA history has been better.

Bet against him at your own risk.

“As soon as I leave here, I'll start to prepare,” James said. “I'm going to get in the car and head back to Akron. As soon as I get home, I'll start my treatment. I'll do the same all day tomorrow from before we leave to go to Boston, and then once we get into Boston I'll do that as well. Try to get as much sleep as I can with tonight and with tomorrow and even on Sunday before the game. That's the best recovery that you can possibly get, is when you're sleeping. It'll be around-the-clock treatment, and we'll see what happens.”

Onto Game 7.