Big Boy Basketball !! This was one hell of a performance !!! Before 61, James top regular-season games March, 4, 2014 MAR 4 1:01 AM ET Windhorst By Brian Windhorst ESPN Archive RECOMMEND58TWEET3COMMENTS17EMAILPRINT Over the past 11 years, LeBron James has played 958 regular-season and playoff games and never had a night like he did on Monday against the Charlotte Bobcats. There are a lot of numbers ahead in this story that will put some perspective on James’ career-best 61-point night but none will articulate it better than that one. In those nearly 1,000 games, James has won four most valuable player awards, gone to four NBA Finals and won two championships, but he has probably never been hotter than he was in the Miami Heat’s 124-107 win. Until Monday, the truly greatest scoring effort of James’ life may have actually happened in high school when he scored 52 points for St. Vincent-St. Mary in just 29 minutes in a game in which he was matched up against future NBA player Trevor Ariza of Weschester (Calif.) High School at a game in Trenton, N.J., in 2003. He had 35 points in the first half that night. James put up 37 points in the second half against the Bobcats in what will go down as one of the finest shooting performances of his career. His 10th career 50-point game, James was so efficient by hitting 22 of 33 shots he did it in 41 minutes, the second-fewest minutes he has played in those 50-point games. Ultimately, James greatest performances come with the attachment of playoff pressure. His 45-point exposition in an elimination game in the 2012 Eastern Conference finals in Boston may be at the top. Right along with that is his masterpiece Game 7, complete with his championship-icing jumper in the final minute. There’s also his 48-point game in the 2007 conference finals in which he scored his team’s last 25 points. When it comes to raw achievement, however, Monday’s effort ranks at the top of the finest regular-season games of his career. Here’s at look at his five greatest regular-season games: 5. March 20, 2005: On a Sunday afternoon in Toronto, James had what would stand as his best scoring game for nearly nine years as he put up 56 points with 10 rebounds and five assists. Less than three months after his 20th birthday, he became the youngest player ever to score 50 points in the NBA, breaking a mark that had been held by Rick Barry since 1965. Brandon Jennings broke that mark five years later, beating out James by about a month. James made six 3-pointers but did a lot of damage at the foul line, going 14-of-15. He scored more than half of his team’s points and the Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Raptors, 104-98. The next day, Cavs coach Paul Silas was fired. 4. March 5, 2008: As he exited the game for the final time after he became just the third player since the NBA-ABA merger to have a 50-point, 10-assist game the crowd gave James a standing ovation and chanted “M-V-P.” What made that special was the game took place at Madison Square Garden. A young fan even ran past security and up to James while he was in his team’s huddle in the fourth quarter. He had 30 of his 50 points in the second half and finished with 11 assists and eight rebounds. He made four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to help the Cavs finish off a 119-105 win. 3. Feb. 20, 2009: There was a three-minute stretch in this game in Milwaukee that may go down as the hottest James as ever been. He started it off by nailing a 33-foot shot at the buzzer of the first half. Then he scored 16 points in the first 2:50 of the second half and at one point made 3-pointers on four of five possessions. His Cavs teammates bounced on the bench as each time down he seemed to go farther and farther back behind the 3-point line. He finished the quarter with five 3-pointers and scored 24 of his 55 points as he carried the team to a 111-103 victory over the Bucks. He also had nine assists and five rebounds that night, though he missed seven free throws, which cost him a chance at setting his career high. 2. Feb. 4, 2009: In one of the greatest games ever by an opponent at Madison Square Garden, James became the first player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975 to score 50 points in a triple-double as he put up 52 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists as the Cavs beat the Knicks, 107-102. It happened the same week Kobe Bryant had set a record by putting up 61 points at the Garden. Or so it appeared. The next day, the NBA reversed a scoring decision and took away a rebound that was awarded to James in the final minute, so history will not view it as a triple-double. He had 20 points in the first quarter and made 16 of 19 free throws in the game. 1. March 3, 2014: Already holding the record for most points scored in a game for the Cavs, James became the single-game record holder for the Heat with his first 60-point game. He tied a career high with eight 3-pointers as he broke Glen Rice’s team record of 56 points. He had the best-scoring quarter of his career, putting up 25 points in the third. He did it on only 33 shots but took nine free throws, his fewest attempts in the 10 50-point games of his career. In a career as decorated as James’ has been over the past decade-plus, it takes something beyond remarkable to rise above all his previous achievements. Monday was a masterpiece, one that may linger at the top for the rest of his career.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 05:58:13 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015