LeBron James on Game 5: 'I Just Went Back to My Cleveland Days'

Backed up against the ropes in a best-of-three Eastern Conference Finals, LeBron James put everything on the table in a heroic third-quarter effort destined for the history books.

The Miami Heat's home AmericanAirlines Arena had yielded no relief in this hotly contested series. The Indiana Pacers were the first team on the scoreboard in Thursday night's Game 5 and never trailed in the first half after the 8:17 mark of the first quarter.

The Pacers carried a 44-40 lead into intermission. 

LeBron James knew what he had to do and knew he had the talent to do it. It's just that had he known it would be needed in 2013, he may never have taken his talents to South Beach in 2010.

He snagged a defensive rebound on the Pacers' second possession of the period and found a driving layup 12 seconds later. That set the stage for a vintage James performance, the kind that helps one understand why he has four MVP awards in the last five seasons:

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LeBron James on his huge third quarter, when he had 16 points, 4 assists, 4 boards: "I just went back to my Cleveland days at that point."

"

"— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) May 31, 2013"

Miami turned that 44-40 deficit into a commanding 70-57 edge, with James doing the heaviest offensive lifting. 

The numbers felt like Cleveland James, but the way he drew them up had a certain Miami flair.

Only four of his points came inside the paint—the aforementioned layup and a dunk off a Chris Bosh assist. The other 12 came courtesy of revamped the shooting stroke, the one responsible for his career shooting marks in field-goal (56.5) and three-point (40.6) percentages this season.

But James wasn't talking about his style of play. He was talking about his relentlessly aggressive mindset, the one his All-Star teammates witnessed the same way that his Cleveland Cavaliers teammates had done in seasons past:

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LeBron on the 3rd quarter: "I just kind of went back to my Cleveland days ..." ... that doesn't say a whole lot for his teammates, does it?

— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) May 31, 2013"

James wasn't trying to show up his teammates; he was making the plays that needed to be made. Dwyane Wade (10 points, 3-of-8) and Chris Bosh (seven points, 3-of-7) struggled once again. Udonis Haslem (16 points, 8-of-9) helped ensure that this wasn't a wasted effort from the King.

Once James mentioned his former home, he appeared to have struck his own nerve. With his new franchise sitting just one win away from its third straight NBA Finals appearance, James took a moment to describe the difficult decision made three summers ago:

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LeBron talked after the game about leaving Cleveland and how "tough'' it was and the "sacrifice.'' sulia.com/my_thoughts/f2…

— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) May 31, 2013"

Indiana and Miami fans have 48 hours to regroup before their teams square off once again on Saturday night.

But with James' comments and the continued struggles of his biggest teammates, those might not be the only fans that started a countdown on Thursday night.

After all, the King's only one year away from making his next "tough" decision.

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