Love Him or Hate Him, LeBron James is Transcendent Sunday
Andrew R Tonry | Sunday, January 9, 2011 at 10:31PM Up four with just under 30 seconds remaining in overtime, LeBron James waived off his teammates. Get to the left, he motioned from the top of the arc. I got this.
Once they’d made sufficient room, James dribbled right, tracing the the three point line with a wide-eyed Nicolas Batum in tow. Andre Miller came streaking across the court to help his teammate, but there was little he—or anyone—could do. James rose up and nailed another three, his 42nd, 43rd, and 44th points.
For all ostensive purposes James’ bucket sealed Miami’s come-from-behind, 107-100 victory. Nonetheless, Blazer coach Nate McMillan called timeout.
But instead of following his team to the huddle, James walked to the other side of the court, his arms in the air beckoning and chiding the Portland fans who booed him on every touch since introductions. “You want to boo me?” James’ gestures seemed to say. “Well go right ahead and kiss my ass.”
“I like boos,” James said, referring to the incident. “Boos fuel me.” And speaking of the media, James admitted to reveling in the “villain” role he accused them of creating.
Indeed, James’ season-high 44 point, 13 rebound, six assist performance Sunday evening at the Rose Garden was as transcendent as any witnessed in the arena in some time. And as further display of James’ ridiculous potential, he often coasted through the game’s first half and well into the second.
Approaching the five-minute mark of regulation, however, something changed in James’ body language. It was as if he—and the Heat at large—were merely hanging around. There was another gear they had yet to engage.
But as the game entered the final stretch, with the Trail Blazers hanging on to a single-digit lead, James seemed to perk up. He walked differently, now fully engaged after co-star Dwyane Wade carried the Heat early with 15 first quarter points. James had shifted up. And with 3:08 remaining in the fourth quarter he alone out-scored the Blazers 19-16, including overtime.
To be sure, it was a heart wrenching stretch for the Blazers, who led by seven points with just over two minutes remaining in regulation. In just under a minute, with 49 seconds remaining, James, with a little help from Wade, erased the lead.
Tied at 93 with 24.6 seconds remaining, the Blazers had the final shot and not one but two chances to win. After the Heat denied the ball to LaMarcus Aldridge, who’d been slicing and slamming his way through Miami’s interior defense to a team-high 31 points, Andre Miller was forced into a difficult mid-range jumper. Miller missed, but collected the rebound only to miss again on a very make-able shot from the foul-line extended.
Coach McMillan thought a foul should’ve been called on the final play, but did not blame the referees. In the end, there was little McMillan—or any Trail Blazer—could say, suffice to give James the credit he deserved.
James himself said much the same—that when he finds himself in that kind of “zone” it’s if he can’t miss.
For three-and-a-half quarters prior, Nicolas Batum did an admirable job on the Heat star, at one point emphatically swatting away James’ soaring layup attempt.
On the offensive end, Batum played his most effective game of the year. His 22 points were a season-high.
Blazer wing Wesley Matthews, on the other hand, seemed to have left his shot in Minnesota. A game after breaking the Trail Blazers’ franchise record with seven three-pointers in a half, Matthews turned wicked cold. In 45 minutes he hit just six of 20 attempts from the field, and a dismal two of 10 from behind the arc. Defensively, the second-year player was equally weak, as he was routinely abused by both James and Wade.
In what’s becoming commonplace, Patty Mills again gave the Blazers a substantial boost off the bench and was rewarded with significant fourth-quarter minutes. He finished with 13 points on five of 10 shooting from the field, including some pretty tear drops on the run.
In his new-found role as Portland’s go-to offensive horse, Aldridge saw a number of double-teams, and when not scoring, responded with a career-high tying seven assists. How Aldridge continues to exploit the doubles and get teammates easy baskets could very well mirror the Blazers’ growth in the months to come. Aldridge also grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds, matching the total of teammate Marcus Camby.
But any amount of rebounds, assists, and impressive, hard nosed, inside pounding buckets would be no match for James when he finds the kind of near-miraculous groove he did Sunday in Portland.
It was one of those rare performances where one has no choice but take their hat off and bow down in reverence, fortunate to have witnessed one of the most talented basketball players in the league playing up to—or even beyond—the hype.
For the Blazers, it surely hurts to let not only a winnable game but their eight-straight Rose Garden win streak slip away. Indeed, afterwards, they all seemed shell-shocked.
But for fans of the game of basketball, speaking in the purest sense, James’ performance was simply marvelous.
Reader Comments (10)
LBJ is prime time Kobe on steroids and LA is turning into Sheed + + w/o the bitch gene. That was one hell of a game and an amazing performance from the princess. Go Blazers!
Funny. You dont mention the horrible turnover by Aldridge which gave Miami the ball and allowed James to nail that 3. Obviously we would have been nowhere without LA last night, but that turnover cost us the game.
that turn over was brutal. However shit happens and LA was killing it last night.
he has become much more than Sheed in my opinion. Sheed rarely dominated down low like LA is these days.
Turnover was more on the guards than LA. All the ball handlers left him in the back court with no outlet.
It is really amazing to watch the things that LBJ can do, I just hate to watch him do it against the Blazers.
i also think the Dre should have been in the game more down the stretch. putting him in with like 50 seconds left then giving him the final shot attempt was ill advisedin my opinion. he needed some time to warm up before taking a game winner. patty was playing well and that obviously worked in Houston but Houston aint Miami so you gotta go with the vet maybe like 5 min before the game ends.
Very nice article, nice to see you guys can respect great players and not hate like so many others. The Blazers played a helluva game and like Heat coach said the best kept secret. Wow what a game.
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