He did it again. For the eighth time in a row LeBron James led his team to the finals. In Game 7 against Boston, the King has to be the solo entertainer for a long time, yet James never lost confidence in his teammates.
First of all: It was not a nice game 7, much reminiscent of the tough playoff battles of the NBA in the middle of the first decade of the new millennium, but soon nobody will be interested in that anymore. In the end, LeBron and the other Cavs players crowned themselves East Champion once again – and for the eighth time in a row, a team from the King will enter the finals.
Cleveland’s critics could feel confirmed early on in Game 7, because in Boston, at TD Garden, one of the noisiest halls in the NBA, nothing worked at first. The guests’ role-players threw bricks one by one and it took over seven minutes for a Cavs player who was not number 23 to score a field goal. In halftime one, only J.R. Smith pocketed a jump shot, except LeBron.
And yet: Boston only took a 4 point break because the Cavs defended solidly and the Celtics left many, many open throws that they had hit in the previous home games of this series. After 26 points in the first quarter, only 53 more were added in the remaining 36 minutes.
“I think we were very defensive,” LeBron said. “We’ve been everywhere, helping each other. So we stayed in the game.” And James also played his part, even if he switched off several times and completely lost sight of his opponent. A gift, because his defense was mostly on point, as in the third quarter, when he blocked Terry Rozier’s attempt at dunk in the best LeBron manner.
Boston did not even hit half of the litters in the zone (16/34 FG), which had a lot to do with the presence of Tristan Thompson, who again had Horford under control. The Celtics key player scored 17 points, but most of them came in a duel with Larry Nance Jr. If TT was not on the field in this series, Horford had a net rating of 23.8 – in a direct duel with Cavs-Big it was -6.2.
In the first half Horford had scored 14 points, there were only 3 more. On the other hand, LeBron’s henchmen finally woke up. Smith showed that he could also hit outside the Quicken Loans Arena, Jeff Green sunk two threesomes and was defensively strong all of a sudden.
LeBron played 7 assists in the second half, partly because he never lost confidence in his team-mates, which would have been more than understandable after the playoffs. Instead of 35 litters he took only 24, it didn’t take 45 or more points, it was enough 35, “Even if the boys didn’t hit their litters in the first half, I was sure it would get better in the second half,” said LeBron after the game.
In the second half the supporting cast of the Cavs scored 30 out of 48 points. That wasn’t overwhelming, but it was enough to win this game with the best player in the world. “We worked hard to prove that we are better than we were made,” explained the often criticized Green. “Now we’re where we wanted to be before the season.”
However, the headlines belong to LeBron – and rightly so. This time the King was on the field for the full 48 minutes, there were no signs of wear and tear as in game 5. The 8 ball losses showed a lack of concentration here and there, but on the other side were unbelievable throws like a wild floating bank shot in the middle of the fourth quarter, which slowly but surely let the momentum swing back towards the Cavs.
The decision was also made by James, who first served George Hill in Transition with a touchdown pass at 79:74 and a little later finally put the lid on with a three-point game including a primal scream.
So now the ninth final participation is in his exquisite vita, the eighth in a row. Only Celtics players from the 1960s can claim this. LeBron also made their third 0-2 comeback and only 16 other teams in the history of the league managed to do so.
It’s even more amazing when you consider that with Kevin Love the second-best player was almost two games away and Kyle Korver was also almost invisible in game 7. In the complete playoffs LeBron scored and assisted at 55 percent of all Cavs points, even in 2007, when he hoisted an absolute rump squad into the finals, it was only 49 percent.
At this level the King will probably also have to act in the finals if the Cavs want a chance and James wants to put a fourth ring on his finger. With all the praise for Cleveland, the Celtics, who had previously won all home games in the playoffs, beat themselves to some extent.
The backcourt around Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier hit just 7/32 litters from the field, from a distance the result looked even gloomier (3/22). Especially in the final part, when Boston was early in the bonus, the Celtics took themselves out of the game as they let three fly after three (3/13 3P) instead of aggressively looking for the drive to the basket and contact to the opponent.
Already in the second quarter this was the same problem, when Boston led with 12 points in the meantime, but then put Jumper around Jumper on the ring. Cleveland, on the other hand, was mercilessly efficient in the immediate vicinity of the basket and hit the ring 16 out of 17 times. It simply became apparent that this young Celtics team was not yet ready. This should change when Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward and Daniel Theis will be available in the coming season.
In Cleveland, however, you first look west and wait for your opponent in the finals. Regardless of the exit, the Cavs should be the clear underdog there – LeBron out, LeBron in.
For critics of James there could be water on the mills again and again, referring to his record in the finals (3-5). But it’s also the chance to create an even bigger sensation after the 2016 championship, when the Cavs beat the 73-9 Warriors.
Since the start of the Indiana series, the Cavs have been written off every few days, it took seven games twice, yet James has the same result as every year since 2010.
Tristan Thompson then summed it up in an interview: “Machines don’t get tired. They just need to be oiled sometimes.”