Sunday's Game 3 between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks was all about LeBron James, for better or worse.
There was his personal-worst start to the game, his enormous dunk, his 12th career playoff triple-double, his ascent up the all-time playoff scoring leaderboard, his career-high field goal attempts, his clutch overtime buckets, and perhaps most notably moving forward, his noticeable limping through right knee discomfort.
The four-time MVP was bothered by his right knee and ankle throughout the game, with the Cavs' training staff working on his leg during several timeouts.
LeBron getting more work on his right knee during that timeout. pic.twitter.com/rDfjeTnfyk
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) May 25, 2015
Things appeared to take a turn for the worse early in overtime, as James' leg got to the point where he momentarily asked out of the game. James quickly changed his mind and waved off head coach David Blatt, ultimately closing out the game and finishing with 47 minutes played.
As the game ended, James collapsed to the floor in exhaustion.
"At that point, I felt like I couldn't give more. But then it was mind over matter," James said on the court after the buzzer while opting not to "play doctor" regarding his health at that moment.
James played a career-low 69 games this season - excluding the shortened 2011-12 schedule - as he finally began to show signs of aging and wearing down after putting ridiculous mileage on his odometer. He missed eight games in the middle of the year to rest a bothersome left knee and also missed time due to minor back and wrist ailments.
With the Cavaliers already down Kevin Love for the playoffs and Kyrie Irving for the last two games, James has been tasked with playing 41.6 minutes per game.
David Blatt: "LeBron cramped up and he knew that we could not win the game without him … He just would not let us lose. Amazing."
— CBS Sports NBA (@CBSSportsNBA) May 25, 2015
He's led the Cavs not just to the Eastern Conference Finals but to a 3-0 series lead, a margin that's never been erased in NBA history. That doesn't mean James is thinking about taking Game 4 off to rest on Tuesday.
"No chance," James said, smiling. "No chance at all."
With James averaging 27.9 points, 10.5 rebounds, 8.4 assists, and 1.8 steals in the playoffs, it seems it will take far more than a few non-career-threatening injuries to keep him from his fifth consecutive NBA Finals appearance.
