LeBron James showed a superhuman effort, an Atlas of sorts, carrying the weight of the world on his back, single-handedly propelling his Cleveland Cavaliers to a second-round matchup against the Toronto Raptors after a 45-point masterpiece to finish off the Indiana Pacers in Game 7.
“It’s hard to put it into words, but that’s why he’s the best player on the planet,” Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue said following the game, according to Scott Sargent of Bleacher Report. “He put us on his back scoring the basketball, facilitating, being aggressive, getting the bigs in foul trouble a lot throughout the course of this series by attacking the basket and just getting to the free throw line, which put a lot of pressure on their defense. So, he did it all for us this series.”
Tristan Thompson, Kevin Love, and Kyle Korver each praised James for his unsurmountable effort in this series, not only playing a heavy minutes load, but also tasking himself with leading the team in scoring, rebounding, and assists.
James admitted to being “burnt” after playing a game-high 43 minutes (his sixth 40-plus-minute outing in the seven-game series); having had a scare after playing 35 straight minutes and departing to the locker room in the third quarter to address what he described as a “minor injury.”
The King averaged 34.4 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 7.7 assists throughout the series, and took a humble approach to his virtuous play.
“Just trying to make plays offensively and defensively and continued to trust my guys and trust myself and trust how much work I put into my game,” James said post-game. “So it definitely … it was good to be able to make plays and advance, and kudos and a big shoutout to the Indiana Pacers. They were tough. … They definitely pushed us, pushed us to the brink.”
