Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star LeBron James has racked up loads (and loads) of accolades over the course of his 15-year career in the NBA. Now, as he and the Cavs set out to face the Golden State Warriors in the Finals, the King is knocking at Michael Jordan’s door for the most 30-point games in playoff history.
This marks James’ eighth consecutive trip to the NBA’s biggest stage. He’s now the sixth player to reach eight straight NBA Finals.
For the record, the other players who made as many consecutive trips to the Finals played for the Bill Russell-led Boston Celtics in their heyday.
James, who played all 82 regular season games for the first time in his career, has been balling out of his mind in the playoffs. In fact, the Akron Hammer has posted seven 40-point games in these playoffs, including three against the Celtics.
In 18 appearances with the Cavs this postseason, the Kid from Akron has racked up averages of 34.0 points on 54.2 percent shooting from the field (34.3 percent from beyond the arc), 9.2 rebounds, 8.8 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.1 blocks in 41.3 minutes per.
The Cavs will be coming into this Finals meeting with the Warriors as heavy underdogs, according to most accounts. It’s an all-to-familiar setting for James, who has been counted as a dark horse in seven of his nine total Finals appearances. And as most hoops fans know, Golden State took both regular season meetings.
Game 1 of the NBA Finals is set to tip inside Oracle Arena at 9:00 p.m. EST with ABC having live broadcast coverage.