James takes charge, Cavs get Game 3 win
CLEVELAND — Perhaps the media critics, in suggesting that LeBron James lacked the “killer instinct” that one would expect from an NBA superhero, have created a Monster! On Sunday morning, LeBron said he “woke up earlier than usual,” skipped his usual pre-game nap, arrived at the gym three hours before game time, and shut off his cell phone to practice! The effect was an invigorated, inspired performance by James, and an 88-82 victory for Cleveland over Detroit in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The win enabled Cleveland to stay in the hunt, trailing Detroit 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
James showed a fiercely competitive side and very crisp offensive execution on the way to a 32-point night. It was also a more animated, fearless LeBron who hit two critical shots late, overcoming Pistons’ defender Richard Hamilton on his final shot to put the game out of reach for Detriot.
“I just wanted to be aggressive,“ James said. “I need to be that way for us to win. We need to hold down home court, and match their intensity,” he said.
Detroit had cut the lead to two points, 84-82, with 16.3 remaining, when LeBron took a step and came up against Hamilton, who made a game-winning stop for Detroit on James in the previous game. This time, James wasn’t going to be denied. He nailed the shot with Hamilton draped over him once again, to put Cleveland up 86-82.
“The same guy was covering me, Rip Hamilton, so I wanted to make the shot over the top of him, and I made a big shot for our team,” James said.
In addition to a big scoring night, James added 9 assists and 9 rebounds. He also scored 12 of his 32 in the fourth quarter.
Cleveland coach Mike Brown said that LeBron is not afraid to put the team on his shoulders and show greater leadership, an aspect of the young superstar’s game that is still a work in progress.
“He knows this is his team,” Brown said. “Tonight he set the tone. How he goes is how we go, and he showed he’s not afraid to step up and take responsibility. He put it on his shoulders and said, ‘come along for the ride,’ and we all hopped on, including me,” he said.
The Pistons’ offense seems to be drying up and blowing away in the wind. If they do make it out of this series and into the NBA finals, they are going to have to get more scoring productivity all-around. Sunday it was an off shooting night for Chauncey Billups and Hamilton. The Pistons’ leading scorers finished a combined 6-22 shooting and committed 7 turnovers between them. Billups was 1-10 until he hit a huge shot to cut the lead to two with 37.5 remaining.
“When our top two scorers don’t shoot very well we’re going to have a tough chance to win,“ Billups said. “It doesn’t happen often, but tonight neither one of us had it going, but we still had a chance at the end,” he said.
Cavaliers rookie Daniel Gibson played in place of starting guard Larry Hughes, and was impressive in his place. Coach Brown made the decision to replace Hughes, who had been struggling after spraining his foot in the first quarter.
The series resumes Tuesday night for Game 4 at the “Q,“ also known as Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
