Teammates laud LeBron's 'unbelievable' Finals performance
We are all witnesses. The Cleveland Cavaliers just have the best view.
After watching him put forth two historic performances in Games 5 and 6 to push the Golden State Warriors to an all-or-nothing decider in the 2016 Finals, LeBron James' teammates were awestruck.
"Unbelievable," Kyrie Irving said of James' Game 6 performance, according to The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski.
"Unbelievable," J.R. Smith agreed.
In the timeout between the third and fourth quarters, James told Cavs coach Tyronn Lue that he wouldn't be coming out of the game, Wojnarowski reports. James then told his teammates, "You all get stops and follow me."
What followed was sheer, transcendent brilliance, with James making play after play after play, on both ends of the floor. He exploded to the hoop and finished in traffic, drilled pull-up jumpers in rhythm, ran the break, set teammates up with look-away alley-oop lobs, kept possessions alive with offensive rebounds, jumped passing lanes, and stymied the Warriors at the rim. He dominated every single facet of the game.
The Warriors had whittled a 22-point deficit down to nine going into the fourth. James scored or assisted on 27 of the Cavs' first 28 points in the quarter, before being pulled with just over two minutes to play and the lead restored to 21.
James finished with 41 points, eight rebounds, 11 assists, four steals, and three blocks. This, after going for 41, 16, seven, three, and three in Game 5. And both those performances on the heels of having his toughness and integrity questioned by countless talking heads and virtually the entire Warriors team.
Whatever happens in Game 7, this will go down as one of the most impressive individual Finals performances in NBA history.
"Not many people in the history of sports have said, 'Everyone get on my back,'" Cavs wing Richard Jefferson said. "The city, state, organization, team … 'Get on my back. If we win or fail, I'll take the blame - but I'm going to lead you.' How many people have ever said that? I can't think of too many players who have put that type of pressure on themselves and then have delivered more times than not. And he embraces it …
"That's a pressure that I know I couldn't personally handle."