King for a Day ... or More?

LeBron's highlight reel Game 5 against Detroit will stand out as one of the greatest playoff performances in NBA history for sure, but only a casual NBA fan would be looking for LeBron to repeat that same performance in Game 6.

He didn’t match his 48-point score whenever, wherever, however performance. If anything, he did better.

In Game 6, which turned out to be the deciding game as the Cavs topped the Pistons for their first-ever trip to the NBA Finals, LeBron scored only 20 points. But his 14 boards and eight assists were both team highs.

His own offense was overshadowed by a previously unknown second-round draft pick rookie, who poured in 19 of his 31 points in the key fourth quarter.

Even without leading his league in scoring, LeBron had his stamp all over the game. This series will be remembered for LeBron’s maturation. And if he can turn it into a victory in the Finals, which begin Thursday night in San Antonio, it will go down as his career-defining moment.

LeBron gets it now. He has learned how to win and more important he has learned how to win under the brightest lights on the biggest stage and in the enemy’s gym.

The reason Daniel Gibson was open -- wide open -- for those three-pointers in Game 6 was because the Pistons knew they couldn’t win without stopping LeBron. What they didn’t realize was that LeBron has learned that he could lead his team to victory without shouldering the scoring burden.

There have only been a handful of players who could control a game without scoring. Few realized that LeBron was in this category before this series.

Sure, LeBron has unstoppable scoring machine in Game 5 was beautiful to watch but that’s not what validates greatness. It was Saturday night’s Game 6 that will solidify LeBron’s place in basketball history.

He took exactly what the Pistons gave him, which wasn't much. He handled the ball on almost every trip down the court. Instead of forcing up shots, ala Kobe Bryant (go watch the 2004 finals) he tried to find open teammates, and he hit the boards. What other superstar player not named Steve Nash would pass up the glory of scoring just to get a win? What other superstar understands the nanosecond-by-nanosecond flow of a game so completely, that his instincts – to shoot or not to shoot – are almost always correct?

It's a freaking short list, people.

LeBron led his team in rebounds and assists and for the series, he averaged nearly a triple double. The most telling thing about LeBron's game is his ability -- at only 22 years old -- to read and react to defenses from moment to moment. On top of that, he's somehow convinced a not-quite-ready-for-prime-time group of players that they are title contenders.

LeBron has become a true leader. He's got his team believing in him and themselves. This is no small accomplishment in professional sports. I seriously wonder if any player so young has been able to accomplish so much with so little talent on his team.

This is why I’m predicting LeBron will lead his team over the Spurs in the NBA Finals.

Yeah, I know. Crazy, huh?

Maybe not.

Nobody has given the Cavs a chance. In Vegas, the Spurs are 2-1 favorites to win in five games.

The Spurs are the smart pick for sure.

They are peaking at the right time. Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobli are healthy. Tony Parker is getting better and wiser every year. They have the deepest bench in the playoffs. They have the best active coach (all due respect to Philip) in the NBA. And they've already been to the mountaintop three times. This Spurs team has never lost in the NBA Finals. And, they have home court advantage.

With all that going for the Spurs, why should the Cavs even show up?

Here's why.

First off, the Spurs Western Conference run, while impressive, was easier than it could have been. Phoenix was the series that was supposed to be the default NBA Finals – the two best teams left in the playoffs. But Robert Horry, Amare Staudamire and David Stern turned that into a dud. Golden State had already taken out the number one seed, which left the Spurs to face the young, inexperienced and ultimately overmatched Jazz.

Not surprising then, the Spurs dismissed them with professional ease.

Second, the Spurs have not faced a defense as good and as disciplined as the Cavs. Anyone who paid close attention to the Cleveland-Detroit series, knows the Cavs out-played the Pistons on the defensive end.

And San Antonio plays offense a lot like Detroit. The Spurs like to run a measured half-court offense, feed it to Duncan on the blocks or use their guards to drive and dish to open three-point shooters.

After watching them take down Detroit, this might not surprise the Spurs, but the Cavs should be able to slow them down, which will keep the games close. And keeping the game close is the key to this series.

Because in the playoffs (as we've seen this entire postseason) close games come down to the fourth quarter. Especially those last seven or eight minutes, it's make-or-break time. The intensity ratchets up higher and then keeps going up impossibly more and more. These are the moments that separate the winners from the also-rans.

These are pros. They’re supposed to be able to hit a three with a hand in your face. But what about hitting a three with a title on the line and your palms are sweaty besides and the ball is slick and your heart is pounding so hard it’s making your hands shake?

Can you make that shot? Or will you apple up and clank it off the rim?

If the two teams find themselves in a close fourth quarter in this series, you might say that a team as experienced as the Spurs would have the overwhelming advantage.

But like I said earlier, the Spurs have hardly been challenged this playoffs. Sure, they’re peaking but is it because they’re finally jelling or is a mirage? Is the reality really that they’ve had a relatively easy road to the Finals?

On the other hand, Cleveland was just baptized by fire.

LeBron & Co., had to look into their own hearts, had to battle the odds of being down 0-2 in a seven-game series. And they not only survived, they came out as a totally different team. You want to talk about peaking, look at the Cavs.

And they’re fresh off of a war, while the Spurs had a comparatively easy series with Utah. While the Cavs fought off the Pistons, the Spurs were at home watching and waiting – and more likely than not hoping for a Cavs win. Because before their collapse against the Cavs, the Pistons were the proven winners. The one team you didn’t want to face.

Well, now that’s the Cavs.

The Cavs, you might be interested to learn, who went 2-0 against the Spurs this season. The Cavs who right now have the league’s best player, this year’s Dwayne Wade, the one guy nobody can stop. Not even defensive grand master Bruce Bowen.

The Cavs who have an active shot-blocking seven-footer and some very nice interior defenders. A host of decent shooters. A tougher complimentary player in Larry Hughes and a coach who was schooled at the Gregg Popovich’s side (he was with the Spurs back when they won their first title).

What I'm saying is the games are going to be close. And if they’re close, I think the Cavs can win. Not just with LeBron's offense, but with his leadership.

I'm picking the Cavs. In six.

LeBron’s earned his crown. Now it’s time for him to wear it.

If the Crown Fits ...

My Pool Man. Healdsburg, Ca. May 2007
Betcha didn't watch.

Betcha thought "fly-over" basketball wasn't your cup of tea. You're too busy following the Kobe saga, perhaps. Or maybe you're catching up on summer re-runs. If you weren't watching the Detroit-Cleveland Game 5 on TNT tonight, S.O.L. feels sorry for your ass.

Your friend is probably leaving you a voicemail right now saying how sick that game was. He's telling you how LeBron took over the game in the fourth quarter, how he scored his team's last 25 points, how three of his teammates fouled out and his boys were trailing by eight in the fourth and somehow, someway he managed to put his team on his back and lead them to victory. This is one time when the telling ain't gonna come close to the actual seeing.

You had to be there sitting in front of your flat screen, sport. Sorry for you if you weren't.

This game was crazy. Crazy. LeBron hit a few shots that were unstoppable. I mean seriously, how can you expect anyone short of nine feet tall to block a jumper when LeBron leaps off the floor and hangs there for days? You can't. It's crazy. And he didn't it again and again. Like the other team was just a mild annoyance.

How crazy? Down the stretch and in the overtimes (that's right there were two of those) there were four key moments when the Cavs had to score. It's simple: they don't get a basket, game over. That's all she wrote folks. Pistons get two games to get a return trip to the final.

And we're talking about a great defensive team in the Pistons. Not the kind of club you can waltz through the paint and, say, slam the ball through the hoop, right?

Shit, if you're LeBron James that's exactly what you do. Three times he faked and juked and jammed -- as easy if the Pistons just engraved a Dunk Anytime Invitation for him.

The other time, the hoop that won the game, was just a mortal's layup. If you don't take into account his lightening head fake, the underhanded scoop and double pump and finger tip action that spun the ball off the backboard and through the net. I ain't lying. Watch ESPN tonight and see for yourself.

LeBron finished with 48 points (18-for-33), nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals. And as good as his numbers were, he should have had a half-dozen more assists. In fact, if Cleveland had anybody else who could score, LeBron would be looking at a nightly triple-double. I can't remember a player so young who got so far with so little talent at his side. But he's so good right now, he's overcoming his team's mistakes and even his coach's mistakes. And he can't be counted out against anybody, not even the waiting San Antonio Spurs, although they have a lot more weapons on offense then the Pistons do.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet.

Tonight's game was a signature, career-defining moment for a player that was anointed before he even played one game in the NBA. Well, for once, the anointers got it right. This performance will be remembered for a long time.

Longer still if LeBron finishes what he started come Saturday. Yep, Cleveland's got just a 3-2 lead. You gotta close the deal, King James. This win won't mean shit unless they're talking about it (and you) in the NBA Finals.

Go claim your mantle, young man.

You have made believers out of all of us.

A King Arrives

Moon Shot (blue) Healdsburg, CA May 2007
I told ya.

I told ya LeBron was getting it. I told you the Pistons were vulnerable. Well fuck me if we don't have a series or what?

Who among you now wants to bet against the King getting into his first NBA Finals?

And now, can Deron Williams make up for the meltdown of Derek Fisher and the Jazz on Monday night? What intrigue. Damn, I love the NBA Playoffs.

What's with the Pistons, anyway? They're the best third-quarter team in basketball. I mean they seem to always changed the course of the game in the third quarter, only to barely survive a fourth-quarter comeback. It happened in their series against Chicago. It happened in almost every game in this series too.

S.O.L. wasn't the only one paying attention. Young LeBron saw how close he and his team were to winning Games 1 and 2. Seriously, if Rasheed doesn't hit those crazy ass shots in Game 2, we might be looking at a Cleveland close-out game tomorrow night in Deetroit.

As it is, we're at 2 games apiece and if ever a very good team looked in trouble, it's the Pistons. They had no answer for LeBron in the fourth quarter last night. Seriously folks, how does one stop a step back three-point fade away jump shot? S.O.L. bows down to his Kingness.

I wonder if the Jazz is toast after that awful display of losing its cool in Game 4. In my mind's eye, I was watching Deron watching LeBron last night and thinking, "I can do that.

Well, I can't do that sick shit, but I can lead my team to victory."

But I'm not sure about the psychological makeup of the Jazz. I guess we'll all find out tonight.

Later today: another Mets comeback.