The Coronation of King James

I would like to take a brief moment and talk about last night's Pistons vs. Cavs game.

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn.

With one game, I felt like the NBA had entered a time capsule and it was 1992 again. LeBron James was simply off the chain. What an amazing, memorable performance. 48 points. Total dominance in the 4th quarter. Big-time, money shots with the game on the line. Just when it seemed like these playoffs were done, I suddenly couldn't be more excited for Saturday's game. This was big-time basketball, and with one fell swoop, Lebron became the player we all thought he might become, and the NBA was back, baby.

Now, after the game, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Reggie Miller were having a lively debate about the nature of this performance as relates to Detroit's usually tight defense. Of course, this resulted in lots of comedy, since all three have decent points to make yet are TERRIBLE at expressing what they're trying to say in an articulate fashion, meaning that you get a lof of screaming and yelling about nothing, with things eventually degenerating into lots of jabs and tangents. Classic.

But as to who was right - well, both sides had a point. To Reggie's point, some of Lebron's shots WERE tightly-contested shots that came as the shot clock was winding down. They were trick shots, fadaways, impossible shots. If they hadn't gone in, we'd all be talking about Lebron's poor shot selection. But they did, and when shots like that are falling, there's nothing anyone can do about it.

On the other hand, Charles and Kenny also had a valid point. With Lebron going all "raging inferno" as Charles put it, Detroit had to adjust and get the ball out of his hands, which they didn't do a very good job of at some key junctures, even playing zone D at some points in which Lebron just tore them apart. Yes, Lebron made some tough shots while facing tenacious defenders, but Detroit dropped the ball when it came to making the necessary adjustments to compensate for James' play, and they didn't make enough of a concious effort to get the ball out of his hands BEFORE he was in position to eat the Pistons alive.

It's funny though, it's like the game almost comes too easy for Lebron, and he needs to make himself work for a tough shot to get into a rythm -- the shots he tends to miss aare the wide open jumpers and free throws - it's really pretty crazy. I mean, he is just huge and overpowering despite being 20 years old. This guy is seriously a freak of nature.

What a game though - 2 OT's, a performance for the books for King James, great play-calling from Marv Albert and the TNT crew, and a series that is now, really, a SERIES. Things just got VERY interesting in the NBA ...