LeBron James comes up small in blowing off media

LeBron James, whose off-court behavior mostly has been a model for other young superstars to follow since he joined the NBA, pulled a huge, unacceptable no-no Saturday night when he blew off the news media after the Cavaliers lost the Eastern Conference finals to Orlando.

(He also apparently did not stick around to shake the winners' hands, but that's not my department.)

On SportsCenter, host John Buccigross suggested James be given a break, what with the many interviews he did all season.

Jalen Rose, a former player, offered the opposite - and correct - opinion: disappointing.

All I can say is this: Yo, LeBron, don't be pulling that stuff around here whenever you lose a big game for the 2010-11 Knicks.

Game 6 preview: Five keys for Cavs-Magic

By John Schuhmann,


ORLANDO -- When you've got the MVP on your team, a guy who has played at a level much higher than any other player in this postseason, you've got a better chance than most to come back from a 3-1 series deficit.

But in order for the Cavs to force a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference finals and get that chance, they've got to get a win at Amway Arena, where they've lost five in a row.

Do the Cavs carry momentum into Game 6 (8:30 p.m. ET, TNT), having played their best game of the series on Thursday? Or are the Magic just a bad matchup for the league's best regular season team, having beaten Cleveland 11 of the last 16 times they've met?

One thing is for sure: What happens in any particular game in this series is impossible to predict. So don't bother. Just watch and enjoy the drama as two great teams battle for the chance to meet the Lakers in the 2009 Finals.

In three of the five games so far, the Cavs have had a shot to win the game in the air as the final buzzer went off. While one of those shots is considered to be the greatest in Cavaliers history, the other two were offline. That's the difference in this series so far, and why the Magic have the opportunity to close it out in their own building.

Who's the pressure on? Both teams, of course. The Cavs are down to their last out, while the Magic don't want to put their season on the line in a Game 7 back at Quicken Loans Arena.

"A team is dangerous when they know they are on their last limb, especially with us," LeBron James said on Friday. "I think we are very dangerous at this point. I mean, it is going to be a crazy atmosphere. We look forward to the challenge."

Here are five keys to Game 6...
1. Turnovers

In Game 4, the Cavs hurt themselves by committing nine turnovers in the fourth quarter and overtime, with James responsible for almost all of them. In Game 5, turnovers continued to be a problem as Cleveland let its 22-point lead slip away. The Cavs coughed the ball up eight times in the first half and another four times in their first nine possessions of the third quarter.

But after that, they took care of the ball, not turning it over once in their final 35 possessions of the game, and the result was a 34-point fourth quarter and a late-night flight back to Orlando.

Meanwhile, the Magic coughed the ball up eight times in the second half of Game 5.

"At key times, we turned the ball over and allowed them back in the game," Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy pointed out afterward.

When games come down to a possession or two, taking care of the ball becomes priority No. 1. Not only do you lose a chance to score, but you also put your opponent in a better position to get an easy basket.
2. The Point Guards

Mo Williams' shooting, along with his psyche, was the Cavs' biggest issue through the first four games. Williams was shooting just 32 percent from the field through Game 4, unable to make the Magic pay for focusing their defense on James.

Things changed in Game 5, as Williams shot 7-for-14 from the field and 6-of-9 from 3-point range, hitting multiple big shots and scoring 24 points. Now, the question is whether or not Thursday's performance was the start of a turnaround for Williams, or just an aberration.

"There is no doubt in my mind in any way, shape or form that Mo's not going to come through for us," Cavs coach Mike Brown said Friday.

On the other end of the floor, it's no secret that the Cavs want Rafer Alston shooting the ball. The strategy burned them in Game 4, as Alston scored 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting, but paid off in Game 5, as he made just one of his 10 shots from the field.

In the Magic's two losses so far, Alston is shooting just 2-for-17 (12 percent) from the field. Clearly, his ability to make shots is a key in this series.

"They left me from the start of the game until the end," Alston said after Game 5. "I just didn't make them like I did [in Game 4]. I look forward to them leaving me again on Saturday."
3. LeBron at the Nail

The Cavs had terrific success in the fourth quarter of Game 5 by isolating LeBron James at the middle of the foul line, a spot on the floor dubbed "the nail."

Catching the ball at the nail makes James a true triple threat. If you give him space, he can knock down a 15-footer. If you play him tight, he can drive around you and get to the rim with just one dribble. And if you send a second defender at him, he can find an open shooter on the perimeter or a big man cutting to the rim.

The Magic doubled James at the nail just a few times on Thursday, mostly leaving Mickael Pietrus alone with the MVP. We'll probably see a different approach in Game 6, and the success of the Orlando defense in that situation will depend largely on whether or not James' teammates are knocking down shots.
4. Free Throws

The most offensively efficient game in this series so far was Game 1. Not coincidentally, it was also the game with the fewest free throws, as the teams combined for just 31 trips to the line. Over the last four games, they've combined for an average of 68.8 free throws per contest.

The result has been some ugly games where both teams tend to lose their offensive rhythm at one point or another. In Game 3, when the Magic attempted 51 free throws, the Cavs never scored on more than three consecutive possessions.

Both coaches want their teams to play good defense without fouling, because not only does putting your opponent on the line give them free points, but it also allows them to set up their defense and make it harder for you to score on the other end.
5. Late-Game Execution

If you haven't figured it out by now, these two teams are very evenly matched. Three of the five games so far could have gone either way in the closing seconds, and the stakes in Game 6 will be higher than they've been all series. If the Cavs lose, their season is done. And if the Magic lose, they're looking at a Game 7 in the toughest building to win a game this season.

Both teams will do everything in their power to avoid going down by double-digits at any point. So expect another close game in the final minutes. The winner will be the team that makes plays and gets stops down the stretch.

Can the Cavs slow down the pick-and-roll and keep Dwight Howard from getting position under the basket? Will guys like Alston and Pietrus step up and knock down shots for the Magic?

Can Orlando keep James out of the paint? And will the MVP get the help he needs from his supporting cast?

Tune in and find out.

Kobe vs. LeBron? Maybe.

By Nathan Rush
All season long, a Kobe vs. LeBron match-up in the NBA Finals was taken for granted.

Vegas put their money on it, Nike (apparently inspired by Jim Henson) made a puppet-ly presumptuous ad campaign, SLAM magazine (apparently inspired by the A-Rod "man in the mirror" Details photo shoot) put the two face-to-face on its most recent cover and TNT-plus-ESPN (in conjunction with NBA.com) built the entire NBA Playoffs marketing campaign around the two most recent league MVPs’ “inevitable” meeting.

Now, the one-name icon (LeBron) with a biblical nickname (King James), a presidential monogram (LBJ) and the number of recent basketball royalty (His Airness’ 23) has to come through on the road in Orlando for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals in order to even have a chance at the dream scheme Finals scenario.

Following a decisive 119–92 Finals-clinching win by the Lakers in Denver on Friday night, three-time NBA champ Kobe Bryant has done his part, brushed his shoulders off and is already thinking about adding a fourth ring in his sixth trip to the final round of April-through-June Madness.

“Now we’re in a place where we didn’t get the job accomplished last year,” said Kobe, referring to last year’s 4–2 loss to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, following a statement win on the Nuggets homecourt.

“Hopefully we will this time.”

As for LeBron, his Cavaliers jumped out to a 35–18 first-quarter lead over the Magic in Game 5 before being outscored 61–43 in the second and third quarters combined, then righting the ship with a 34–23 edge in the fourth quarter and a 112–102 final margin in front of a star-studded crowd of New Yorkers such as Jay-Z, A-Rod, Mariano Rivera and CC Sabathia.

(Editor’s note: The Yankees were in-town to face the Indians, not persuade LeBron to play for the Knicks; Shawn Carter, however, is actively recruiting his most powerful fan to the Nets, a team slowly moving to Brooklyn and co-owned by Beyonce’s husband.)

In the end, James ruled Game 5 against Orlando, producing game-highs in points (37), rebounds (14) and assists (12). In the process, LeBron became the first player to record at least 37-14-12 in a playoff game since the “Big O” Oscar Robertson carried the Cincinnati Royals in 1963 as a 24-year-old — coincidentally, the same age as LBJ today.

“I was attacking anyone in the way, no matter who it was,” said LeBron, who is averaging 41.2 points, 8.6 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game in the Conference Finals.

“There’s always a sense of urgency when you are on the brink of elimination. …

“It was win or go home.”

That will be the case once again, when King James takes on the Magic Kingdom in a pressure-packed Game 6 on the road at Orlando’s Amway Arena, where the Cavs are a winless 0–4 this season — with losses in Game 3 (99–89) and Game 4 (116–114) of this series, along with regular season defeats of 116–87 (April 3) and 99–89 (Jan. 29).

In a city that is full of Walt Disney World tourists at this time of the year, LeBron James will have to be the best show in town if the NBA Finals is going to feature the fairy tale ending — Kobe vs. LeBron — that Commissioner David Stern’s league has been wishing on stars for all season long.

Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals tips off on Saturday, May 30, at 8:30 p.m. ET on TNT. If necessary, Game 7 will be played on Monday, June 1, in Cleveland, where the Cavaliers are 6–1 in the playoffs after going 39–2 during the regular season.

LeBron James' epic performance

Well, I never saw anything like that before.

Sure, like every football fan, I saw Kellen Winslow against Miami, exhausted, bleeding, spent -- someplace close to dying -- come back on the field again and again, catch another pass, block a field goal, catch another pass. It was 1982. Winslow had a pinched nerve, and he was cramping, and he had a bloody lip, and he had to be carried off the field. And he stumbled back on. He caught 13 passes in that playoff game, he scored a touchdown, he would not relent.

But I still never saw anything like that before.

Yes, I saw George Brett, 1985, his team down to Toronto two games to none, and he told his teammates, "Climb on back for this one" In the first inning he hit a home run. In the fourth he hit one high off the wall for a double. In the sixth, with his team down 5-3, he hit another home run. In the eighth, with the score tied, he singled, went to second on a bunt, went to third on a groundout, scored the game winner on a single. And somewhere in all that he made perhaps the greatest defensive play of his life, throwing out Damaso Garcia at the plate. The Royals won, and they won the World Series, and it's hard to imagine one player doing more to make it happen.

But I still never saw anything like that before.

Yes, I saw Ali come back from the dead in the 14th round to knock the mouthpiece out of Frazier's mouth, and I saw Tiger Woods win a U.S. Open on one leg, and I saw Sampras vomit in the fifth set at the U.S. Open and then go on to victory, and I saw Michael Jordan make the big shot time and again.

No, I never saw anything like LeBron James in the fourth quarter against the Orlando Magic on Thursday. I have no idea if Cleveland has enough to go into Orlando and win Saturday. My mind tells me it will be tough. My mind tells me that even Thursday -- a game Cleveland won by 10 -- Orlando was the more complete team, the better coached team, the more resilient team, the more confident team. My mind tells me that TNT's Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley are right when they say that nobody alive, nobody, can do THAT again, what LeBron did.

But it's not my mind that speaks loudest now, not after watching LeBron James play that fourth quarter. He looked beat. He bent over and clung to his shorts -- the surest sign, Al McGuire and Billy Packer always assured us viewers, of a man's exhaustion. He had seemed to grow weary of being a one-man team -- all game long, he seemed almost to be PLEADING with his teammates to get involved, to make some shots, to help him help them. At first, they did make some shots. The Cavaliers led by 22. Then they didn't make shots. Orlando rushed back and trailed by one at halftime. The Cleveland pace slowed. The crowd noise deadened. LeBron was brilliant but consumed. The Magic led by eight early in the third quarter.

And then ... that fourth quarter. The numbers are the numbers -- the Cavaliers scored 34 points, and LeBron James had a hand in 32 of them. He scored 17, and he dished four assists, and he grabbed four rebounds. To see it: Mind blowing. Every time down, the Cavaliers would get the ball to James around the free-throw line. He would hold the ball, look over the court, and you wondered if he could even move he looked so tired. You could see him just stand there, and it was almost as if you could hear the thought in his mind: "Damn it, why does it have to be me again?"

And then, "Who else could it be?"

And he drove, hard, time after time, he attacked, and he waited for all five men to collapse on him. And when they did, he would sometimes toss it out to Daniel Gibson or Mo Williams or someone else who stood behind the three-point line, alone wide open. Other times, he would keep going to the basket, take off, take the inevitable punishment, shake off the defenders, try to put the ball in the basket. This wasn't, as announcers would say, Superman doing superhero work. No. Superman is impervious. With LeBron, you could see that every foul hurt, every step was exhausting, every move was made with the weight of an entire city on his shoulders. Still, he kept on going, kept scoring, kept making the passes, kept blowing minds. Who can keep up that pace? Who can take on five defenders every time down the floor? Who can carry a city that has not won a championship in 45 years?

LeBron's final numbers: 37 points, 14 rebounds, 12 assists -- not just a triple double, but a triple dozen ... here is the list of players in the last 20 years who have managed 35 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists in a playoff game:

1. LeBron James, May 28, 2009.
2. Nobody else.

There have been other great playoff performances, of course, and it's always easy in the rush of the present to forget about those, to leave behind Jerry West or Dr. J, to leave behind Bird versus Dominique or the Magic baby hook or Tim Duncan's quieter brilliance or Michael two dozen times, to leave behind Dwayne Wade or Steve Nash or Kobe and Shaq or Paul Pierce just one year ago.

I'm not saying this was fundamentally different from those, except maybe it was a little different. It is becoming clearer and clearer that Orlando has some sort of Cavaliers kryptonite. Maybe it's the matchups, maybe it's the coaching, maybe it's the size factor, but whatever the reason the Cavaliers never look good against Orlando, and they hardly ever beat the Magic. The Cavaliers won Thursday, but after the game ended, Charles Barkley was stuck between awe and disgust. "That was too hard," he said, and those were the perfect words. That was too hard. LeBron James had beaten Orlando single-handedly. And it was too hard.

But for one night, LeBron did it. And it was epic. It was like LeBron James was saying, "I don't know what will happen tomorrow. But we're not losing tonight."