LeBron James had not played in Cleveland for more than two years due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Los Angeles Lakers star made up for lost time on Monday, becoming perhaps his best performance against his former team.
James scored 46 highs this season in the Lakers ‘115-108 victory over the Cavaliers, extending Los Angeles’ road-to-road victory streak to 10-0 to start the season, a franchise record, and he did. with style in its state of origin. Ohio.
“Cooking at home,” he later said in a video conference with reporters. “It felt good to go back to my shelter, to my shelter, and that’s being at home.”
For much of the trip, it was a warm, diffuse feeling for the 18-year veteran. He spent time with his mother and uncle. He greeted former teammate Cedi Osman with a big hug during the warm-ups, skirting league safety and health protocols to show some love. He called Mark “Cobra” Cashman, a regular employee of Cavs, who christened him “the best equipment in the world.”
But, heading into the fourth quarter, following the Cavs 89-87, after missing a shot against the bell that would have tied things up, James found a reason to leave the routine of sympathetic men and bury his old equipment.
After the 14 feet above the bullfighting prince bounced twice to the edge and out, James noticed Jason Hillman, the Cavs basketball chief of staff, sitting in a group at the baseline with the rest of the Cavs head office and applauding for celebrating the stray shot, sources told ESPN.
“I felt like I was too excited to be missed,” said James, who later rejected Hillman’s name when asked who caught his eye. “I was very excited that he missed that shot. A little more than I would have liked. But obviously he has to take root in his team. And he was, he showed it.
“So I knew I had another quarter and the fourth quarter my favorite.”
And what a fourth quarter it was. James outscored his opponent alone (the team he once helped deliver his lone championship in 2016, mind you) on 21-19 in the quarter to push the Lakers to overtake a strong team of Cavs who beat the Brooklyn Nets twice at home just last week.
After finishing the slaughter, with James leaving the field from 9 to 10, hitting a 3 of the Cleveland “C” logo on the center court and a couple more daggers from the outside as he added two assists, two steals and two plugs, all his old team could do was recognize James ’greatness.
“It doesn’t take long to get Bron to work,” a Cavs source told ESPN about the brief exchange James had with Hillman, with the four-time MVP casting an icy look toward Hillman before directing. on the Lakers bench. “It was unreal tonight.”
Cavs coach JB Bickerstaff added, “You take his hat off. There’s a reason he’s who he is and he’s accomplished all the things he’s achieved. If he makes shots like that, hit him once in the butt “.
It was the highest number of points James has ever scored against Cleveland, as he set his career record at 15-1 in games played against the team to which he adapted for more than 11 seasons. And he was as accurate as he ever was with a measure: his 73.1% off the field on 19-for-26 was matched to the best he has shot of the 240 career games in which he attempted at least 25 shots (regular season and playoffs combined). The only other time it was 19 vs. 26? Game 6 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals in Boston, which many point to as the most important victory of his career.
James, 36 and 26 days, became the Lakers’ oldest player with a 40-point game since Kobe Bryant scored 60 at the age of 37, 234 days in the last game of the Lakers. his career.
“I just never put a ceiling on my potential,” James said. “I’ve always wanted to keep getting better and better to the point where I can now also dictate [what] the defense can do it. And the defense can’t dictate what I’m supposed to do. “
James finished 7-on-11 out of 3, raising his shooting mark to 41.2% from outside this season, which would be the best percentage of his career if he continued.
“The shooting,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said, “was just ridiculous and it was just one of those nights for all time.”