NBA: Celtics – Cavs, Game 7: A rule is broken

It won’t get any bigger: The Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers will enter the seventh game in the Eastern Finals (2.30 a.m. at LIVESTREAM FOR FREE). For LeBron James, history could repeat itself – even if he doesn’t want to admit it.

LeBron James has played 22 elimination games in his 15-year career. Especially in the recent past, he has won most of them – with a dominance whose description lacks superlatives.

The King had to play six of these 22 games against the Celtics, four of which he won. And two of them have shaped his career like no other matchup.

13 May 2010: After last year’s Cavaliers failed against expectations in the Conference Finals due to the Orlando Magic, everything should be better this time. With 61-21 they won the Top Seed of the Regular Season, of course thanks to LeBron James, who won his second MVP trophy.

The second playoff round was still over. The star ensemble from Boston celebrated its renaissance, the defense of Doc Rivers mercilessly uncovered the Cavs weaknesses, LeBron was alone in the wide corridor and thus overwhelmed. With a 2:3 series deficit, he went to the boiling Garden, where Cleveland scored only 85 points – and retired. A few weeks later, there was a show on TV with James announcing that he would make his talents available to South Beach because he sees better chances of success there than in Ohio.

Two years later, June 7, 2012: After the Heat failed against expectations in the finals 2011 due to the Dallas Mavericks, everything should be better this time. It looked good, too: Miami dominated the Regular Season, LeBron won MVP trophy number 3, but in the Conference Finals the aging Boston Celtics star cast waited to celebrate their last hurrah.

With a 2:3 series deficit the Heat went into the boiling gardens, they stood with their backs to the wall. For James, however, this time everything should be different from two years ago: With open mouths the fans marveled at the birth of “Playoff-LeBron”, who dissected the home team with 45 points and saved his own team. After this performance, no LeBron team lost a playoff series in the East. The Celtics disintegrated and started a rebuild.

Now, a good six years later, the circle closes with James’ next elimination game at TD Garden in Boston, on the biggest possible stage – Game Seven. The two most beautiful words of US sports. Win or go home, NBA Finals or holidays. More is not possible. Or: “That’s what you live for,” as James team mate Tristan Thompson explained.

No matter who will end up victorious – there will not only be an impressive streak that tears. Like there are: The Celtics have never lost a 2-0 lead series (36 so far!). They stand in the current playoffs with 10:0 before domestic scenery. On the other hand, LeBron: He was in the finals seven times in a row. 23 times in a row his team left a playoff series in the east as the winner.

Now everything is in the balance – only one game decides, for 48 minutes (or more?) it’s “all or nothing”.

If you take the course of the six matches between the teams so far into account, the winner can actually only be Boston, after all, the Cavs have so far played away underground, even LeBron was weaker in Game 5.

But seventh games write their own laws. And relying on James to show signs of fatigue again is not a good idea from Celtics’ point of view. Two days ago, in his phenomenal 46 point performance, the King looked fresher than ever, he played practically through and still had enough strength (physically and mentally) at the end of the game to decide the game.

James scored 35 points on average in his previous Game Sevens. And you can assume that his team will again need so many to pass – at least. Because with the failure of Kevin Love, more weight rests on James’ shoulders than ever before. Since that defeat against Boston in 2010, his supporting cast has never been as thin as it is today.

Boston’s plan is probably well-known for this reason. You have to keep challenging James, attacking him, annoying him. Marcus Smart (“it’s getting dirty. We have to get ready for bloody noses”) will occasionally chase him across the floor again, Marcus Morris will physically approach him in half-field, Jaylen Brown will seek the drive against him.

None of this will stop LeBron from scoring. But perhaps his efficiency suffers, perhaps his precision in the passports suffers. There will undoubtedly be such in Game 7, because LeBron can’t take every roll of the Cavs either.

Then the Celtics have to be careful that the shooters JR Smith and Kyle Korver are not too open or that Jeff Green cannot cut to the basket undisturbed after Switch misunderstandings, as was the case in Game 6. They must also be more consistent on the board, must not allow second chances – and as soon as they have the spalding in their hands, they must press the tube and make the game fast.

All this is nothing new, it would be surprising if there will be changes in the game plan. The Cavaliers will also rely on the tried and tested, such as the Thompson defence against Al Horford. “TT” is usually only on the field when his opponent does, Ty Lue shows his penchant for “oldschool” minute management. Rightly so: If Horford is on the field and defended by Thompson, the Cavs (extrapolated to 100 possessions) win with 3.2 points. However, if the Celtics fix may act without its primary guard, it is plus 19.2 points (!) for the Celtics.

For the Cavs, as usual lately, it’s time to trust LeBron James and hope he does something good with the ball. “That’s how our team is structured,” he said at the press conference after game 6, “that’s how we succeed.”

Something that shouldn’t be a factor in the upcoming game is the Celtics’ youth – at least according to Head Coach Brad Stevens. “I’ve been doing my best all year not to talk about the age of my players. Because that’s not the point – it’s the fact that they are good basketball players and a great team. We got a job to do now. And we’re ready for the game.”

It’s not quite as simple as he wants it to be. Of course, the lack of experience of most cadres plays a role. For them it’s the biggest game of their career, which is why they will automatically step on the floor with a different feeling, even if they play in their own living room.

LeBron, on the other hand, has seen everything, experienced everything. “First and foremost, it’s just a basketball game to me. I know what I’m capable of and I have faith in the things I do. That’s why I’m not putting any pressure on myself,” he says.

Should his mission go wrong, it could have been his last game in the Cavaliers’ jersey – and for the second time an elimination game against the Celtics would be to blame. His statement that it was “just a basketball game” could therefore have been a bit of a fib.

Because a game seven in this phase even the king can’t talk down.