NBA Commissioner David Stern no longer has to worry about rating for the '07 Finals.
Cleveland's 109-107 win in game five of the Eastern Conference Finals pretty much punches the Cavs' ticket to San Antonio for next week's NBA Finals series.
LeBron James' performance through the fourth quarter and overtime punches his ticket into what some writers call "The Pantheon."
The Pantheon is that level that only great players reach. You know when it happens, too.
Magic's 42, 15 and 7 in game six of the 1980 Finals.
Michael's 69 and 18 boards in Cleveland in March 1989.
Dwyane Wade's 42 and 13 rips in game three of last year's Finals.
Add LeBron's 48 in 51 minutes of Cleveland's doubl-overtime win in game five to that list.
James had everything working Thursday night at the Palace. Deep stepback Js. Fadeaways. Drives to the cup. Everything was everything as the old guys say.
All NBA greats live by the same motto when it comes to the playoffs. "Get me to the fourth quarter and I'll bring it home."
James was Mariano Rivera circa 2001 Thursday. Through the fourth quarter and overtime, LeBron scored 29 of Cleveland's 30 points during that stretch. He went 11 of 14 from the field and hit 25 straight at one point.
But how does that happen? How does a team like the Pistons let one guy beat them?
Isn't Tayshaun Prince's rep based on stopping wing guys like Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady? Wasn't the zone D Flip Saunders employed to stop James from driving to the hoop, which is exactly what James did to get the winning bucket?
Don't get it twisted. Changes need to be made after this series by both teams. Win or lose.
Mike Brown needs to be replaced. He uses timeouts like Herman Edwards. His substitution patterns make no sense.
Phil Jackson's first year as head coach in Chicago came the fall after Jordan hit the winning shot in the first round of the 1989 playoffs against Cleveland. I could hear Brown channeling his inner Doug Collins after Thursday's game at the podium.
"That was get the ball to LeBron and everybody else get the $^&* outta the way."
Collins, Jordan's coach before Jackson, was gone by Labor Day.
Saunders is not the problem in Detroit. There needs to be some major roster shake-ups with this Pistons group. Chauncey Billups has played valiantly the last two games, but he has cost himself millions during this series. He's a bad match for LeBron, I know, but Rip Hamilton has been exposed as an on-the-ball defender. Rasheed Wallace floats in and out during games, and Chris Webber has given almost nothing.
Neither team stands a chance against the Spurs. I could be wrong, though. Nobody thought Detroit had a shot against L.A. in 2004, either.
San Antonio is businesslike on the court. The Spurs play their game and don't worry about their opponents. Cleveland could get one game, if James has a performance a la Allen Iverson in 2001, and the Pistons could possibly push the series to six games, if their heads are in all six.
But let's focus on the present.
James lived up to all the hype tonight.
Pantheon guys will their teams to victory. James might have just willed his squad to the NBA Finals.
The Cavs are in the driver's seat for sure, but the Pistons are riding shotgun and the emergency brake is within reach.
Okay, that was a lame metaphor -- or analogy or whatever it was.
What I am trying to say is I believe this is exactly how last years series between Detroit and Cleveland went: Detroit won the first two, then lost the next three, then came back to win the series.
Again, the Cavs have the edge, but as Ricko wrote, the series is by no means over. Yet.
I know this is the way it went last spring, but was LeBron playing like this. And I think he's found his sidekick for the next decade in Gibson. Hughes needs to have the ball, sort of like Kobe and LO, Gibson doesn't need to dominate the ball to get shots. Once Shannon Brown gets healthy, Cleveland will be lethal.
I could be wrong but there is an old saying about defense winning championships... I wouldn't show Mike Brown the door just yet, the Cavs get no respect for keeping these games close and allowing LeBron to take over when it counts. A week ago the Pistons were set to sweep this series and now the Cavs are poised to end this series. This series should really have been over after game 4, the Cavs have out worked the Pistons every game.
this series is over. pistons arent the same team they cant turn it on and off like they think they can they have been exposed. and as far as thinking even if the cavs get to finals they wont beat san antonio i dont know we will see you think sa is going to be able to do something different defensively against lebron?
The series definitely isn't over, but it is looking bleak for Detroit. They simply let this one slip away by letting LeBron get to the basket at will. Detroit can still potentially take the next 2, but Cleveland's confidence is sky high right now. This is nowhere near being the same situation as last year. Last year the Pistons knew that they could dominate Cleveland last year, but this year Cleveland really doesn't feel that Detroit can even beat them.
I understand what people say about Mike Brown coaching D, but Rick Carlisle coaches D, too, and he's on ESPN now.
Brown's best unit is LeBron, Boobie, Pavlovic, Varejao, Gooden. That unit plays very little together. He never has timeouts at the end of games and he looks like one of those caricature pictures you can get at Cedar Point.
I am an Anti-Lebronda-ist, and as shocked and amazed as I was about his Jordan-esque performance last night I have to say only two things: HTF did he MAKE all of those impossible shots?! And two: Sorry Cleveland, Detroit A) WON'T allow LeBronda to play like that AGAIN, and B) That was a one-time miraculous happening. There's an EXCELLENT chance that LeBronda WILL NOT shoot like that for a LOOOOOONG time again. So Detroit fans, get ready for game 7 in The Palace, and Cleveland, sorry, maybe next year! June 7th Spurs/Pistons Finals rematch!
I'm not saying much. There really isn't much to be said.
This is a close series. But Detroit should have already won. After going up, 2-0. They should be the ones up now 3-2.
The last 25 points and 29 of his team's last 30 points was the most incredible thing last night about the performance of LeBron James. Absolutely incredible. That's what ranks it up there as one of the best.
jaycarmel, didn't it LOOK like it?! I mean he virtually WALKED to the cup as if the Pistons red paint in their key was James Red carpet. Prove me wrong.
yeah no question... lebrons game5 performance was ridiculous... he put on his best jordan impersonation, and if he can somehow do that again they'll be playing the spurs...
we had a couple opinions though on lebron matching up to jordan check that out
http://community.foxsports.com/blog s/jay%20and%20bob%20blog
SpursFan, yea, it did look like they just let him walk into the lane. That zone Detroit was trying to run was awful. Why were Chauncey and Rip at the top of it? Tayshaun should have been their first line of D. I think Flip should put Nazr in with about 8:30 left in the first and have him lay Bron-Bron out when he gets to the hole. It's been too easy for him to get to the rim. No types of consequences or anything.
My name is Jason Carmel Davis, and I am a graduate of the Michigan State University School of Journalism. Yes, we do go to class in East Lansing, not just to bars and the liquor store.
I'm almost positive I had an SI with me in the womb, checking out Ralph Wiley. He's the main reason I ever decided to pursue a career in sportswriting .
I even remember the first highlight I ever saw on SportsCenter. I don't remember who was reading it, but it was Michael Jordan's 63-point game against the Celtics in the Garden in the 86 Playoffs. I've been hooked ever since.
