LEBRON James played his 100th game of this NBA season in today’s critical game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals between Cleveland and Boston.
He had more than enough left in the tank.
Boston was undefeated at home this postseason and the Cavs were without Kevin Love after he suffered a concussion in game six.
It didn’t matter.
James had 35 points, nine assists, 15 rebounds and two blocks in a 87-79 win that sends him to the NBA Finals for the eighth consecutive season.
“I’m trying to squeeze this orange until there’s no more juice left,” James said.
In the first close game of the series — and the lowest-scoring — James played all 48 minutes for his sixth straight Game 7 win.
“He’s unbelievable, man,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said. “He’s the best player in the world.”
Lue rated it equal to the best performance of James’ career, alongside his 27-point triple double in game seven of the 2016 NBA Finals against Golden State.
“The best. He’s had a lot of lawdy games but game seven in Boston ... this and game seven of the NBA Finals in 2016 are right there,” Lue said.
This year’s finals begin Friday at either Houston or Golden State. The Rockets host the seventh game of the West finals on Tuesday (AEST).
But for at least the next 24 hours, it’s time to sit back and appreciate James. “I thought it was an outstanding defensive game and he still got 35-9-15,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “It’s a joke.”
Boston will rue dropping a game they led for most of the first half. Jayson Tatum continued his superb postseason with 24 points and seven rebounds and Al Horford was solid with 17 points.
But Jaylen Brown (5/18 for 13 points) and Terry Rozier (2/14 for four points) did not shoot well, going a combined 3/22 from three. Rozier was 0/10, highlighting — despite his extremely successful postseason — how much Boston missed Kyrie Irving in the end.
Jeff Green played a crucial support role for Cleveland in Love’s absence, producing 19 points and eight rebounds.
“You work hard to get to this point and it was right there for us,” Green said. “And we stuck together.”
James had six of Cleveland’s 12 points in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter to keep the visitors in front at 71-67.
Marcus Morris (14 points, 12 rebounds) was big for Boston but threes from JR Smith and Kyle Korver were crucial in keeping the Cavs in front.
Tatum brought the Boston crowd to life by posterising James with a vicious dunk, letting James know about it and then hitting a three-pointer.
But Cleveland responded immediately with a Jeff Green three and Tristan Thompson dunk to regain a 76-73 lead.
James made two trips to the line to put Cleveland ahead 79-74 before setting up a George Hill layup with his ninth assist to make it 81-74 with 1:16 on the clock.
After Jaylen Brown missed a three, James broke free for a three-point play that all but settled the game at 84-74. “Absolutely amazing, what we’re witnessing,” ESPN commentator Mark Jackson said.
Cleveland held Boston to just four points in the first five minutes of the third quarter to tie the game at 47-47.
Encouragingly, LeBron James didn’t score any of the Cavs’ eight points during the run.
Boston responded with two buckets to make it 51-47 before Cleveland reeled off a 9-0 run to lead 56-51.
James made a highlight reel block on Terry Rozier’s attempted dunk and followed it with an extended stare down as the Cavs began to believe.
He added a late triple to reach 23 points, five assists and 12 rebounds in the visitors’ 59-56 lead with a quarter to play. Jeff Green had 16 points and seven boards for Cleveland.
Jayson Tatum (15 points) and Al Horford (14 points) lead Boston but aren’t getting as many shots as Jaylen Brown (4/16 for 10 points) and Terry Rozier (2/12 for four points).
The Celtics shot 35 per cent from the field through three quarters.