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This was the stuff all those dreams are made of.
It is still not clear what will become of this Cavaliers season, but Saturday
night was a verification of what the future holds.
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LeBron James picked his team up and willed them to an awe-inspiring 107-104 victory over the New Jersey Nets (42-30) in the sort of grand fashion most dreamed of when they won the draft lottery.
James was masterful, scoring a career-high 41 points, becoming the youngest
in league history to score more than 40 points. He added a career-high 13 assists
and did it with an undeniable will. He made massive play after massive play
in a stunning stretch run in which the Cavaliers (32-40) overcame a battled-tested
Nets team.
In the short run, it was vital in snapping the Cavaliers' four-game losing streak
and pulled them back into a tie for the eighth playoff spot in the East. In
the long run, it once again proved there are no boundaries to James' talent.
"He was simply awesome," Cavaliers coach Paul Silas said. "Whatever
was needed, he provided for us."
In the final 20 seconds alone, James forced a game-altering steal, secured a
game-clinching rebound and drove in a blur toward the basket for the difference-making
baskets as the sellout crowd at Gund Arena roared with satisfactory glee.
With 20 seconds left and the Nets in possession of the ball with a 104-103 lead
after an offensive rebound, Silas was yelling for his team to foul. The Nets'
Richard Jefferson, who almost single-handedly made up for missing All-Stars
Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin with a season-high 35 points, was trying to get
the ball to teammate Kerry Kittles (24 points), because he's the team's best
free-throw shooter.
But James leaped and tipped the ball into the air. Kedrick Brown, whose heroics
will be addressed in a moment, came down with it and fed it back to James as
he was streaking down the court. He finished over Kittles, who looked helpless
in trying to stop him.
Moments later, Jefferson tried to one-up James with a game-winning jumper, but
it missed off the back of the rim. James found the long rebound and sped to
the other end for a capping slam dunk with 1.9 seconds left. It was the last
of his 16 fourth-quarter points, the most memorable of his 28 second-half points
in the performance of his young career.
"I don't like losing. I saw the opportunity for us to win, and I grabbed
it," James said. "I made some plays; I was able to explode."
Explode is what the arena did when it was all over, standing and cheering and
then refusing to leave until James took the microphone for a postgame interview.
"He knew it was his moment. It was incredible the way he was poised to
take over," said Carlos Boozer, who was the beneficiary of many of James'
assists.
Boozer finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds and scored seven key points in
the stretch run.
"I'm going to get a tape of this game just for myself," he said.
James' play was desperately needed, especially after the team placed starting
point guard Jeff McInnis on the injured list before the game.
James didn't need help at the point in this one. His aggressiveness in going
to the basket totally broke down the New Jersey defense in the second half.
He committed just two turnovers while handling the ball for 43 minutes.
The Cavaliers also got strong play from Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who had 17 points
and 10 rebounds, and Brown, who came out of oblivion to score 12 points on 5-of-5
shooting. After not playing meaningful minutes in nearly two months, Brown led
a bench effort that outscored the Nets' reserves 20-8.
"Both teams wanted it, but we needed it a lot worse than they did,"
Silas said. "LeBron's learning what it takes to get it for us."
Cleaves addition
The Cavaliers are expected to sign former Michigan State star Mateen Cleaves
to a 10-day contract today. He will replace Jeff McInnis, who was put on the
injured list with a bone bruise in his right shoulder, before the game Saturday.
Cleaves, whom the Cavaliers once traded for but rejected after he failed a physical,
was averaging 14.1 points and 5.8 assists in 40 games with the Huntsville Flight
of the National Basketball Development League.