Cleveland's LeBron James: Another Resurrection for the King?

Ok, calm down. The Boston Celtics have taken a 2-0 lead in their best of 7 series with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the right to play in the Eastern Conference Finals. For Celtics fans, the ingredients of a LeBron James-led comeback are right there, and even though I can't predict the future, the potential recipe is a tough thing to ignore.

 For the Celts, Kevin Garnett has led the way, with PG Rajon Rondo turning into an unstoppable point guard in spurts. Paul Pierce bounced back from a pathetic Game 1 to with a 19 point effort, with zero turnovers. Swingman Ray Allen bounced back from a scoreless Game 1 with 16 points, including 7-8 from the line-a result of him finally attacking the basket when KG attracts double teams. As far as bench production, the main performer has been forward James Posey, who is playing excellent defense on James and hitting timely three pointers.

LeBron James is averaging 16.5 points per game in the series, almost half of what he averaged in the regular season when he became the first player to ever average exactly 30 points per game. He is also shooting terribly from the field, going 2-18 in Game 1 and 6-24 in Game 2. He is also getting very little help from his teammates not names Zydrunas Illgauskas. But, some storylines can't be found on the stat sheet.

Last season, in the Cavs Eastern Conference series against the Pistons, they lost the first two games by scores of 76-79 in each. Although the Celtics were dominant in Game 2, Game 1 was one of the ugliest playoff games in the history of the shot clock era, or the 20th and 21st centuries. The Celtics have shown that their abilities on their home parque floor differ greatly than when they play on the road, as was proven by the Atlanta Hawks who won all 3 games in Atlanta before being castrated in Game 7 by 900 points.  The Hawks were also blown out in Boston in Games 1 and 2 before returning to a raucous crowd in Atlanta that propelled them to victory the next two games, evening the series at 2 games apiece. The Celtics will now try to keep the same from happening as they prepare to play in Cleveland the next two games.

Back to last year's Eastern Conference Finals. LeBron and the Cavs suffered two demoralizing losses in Detroit to begin their eventual berth in the NBA Finals. In Game 3, LeBron and Co. defeated the Pistons with James scoring 32 points, dishing out 9 helpers, and pulling down 9 rebounds. James also scored 12 points in the 4th quarter as he gave his Cavs hope for a series victory. James followed that up with 25 and 11 assists in game 4 as the Cavs evened the series at 2. The stage was then set for James in arguably the most dominant overall performance in the postseason since Air Jordan's 55 points in the 1993 Finals against the Phoenix Suns. James scored 48 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and threw 7 passes that resulted in scores for teammates. He also scored his team's last 25 points as he hit miraculous shot after miraculous shot, not to mention the game-winning layup with 2 seconds left. The end result was a 109-107 Double-OT victory that included LeBron posterizing the Pistons with regularity at the rim and in the paint in general. Game 6 was a Cleveland annihilation as the Cavs dominated as a team with James doing his usual thing with 20 points, 14 rebounds, and 8 assists. The rest of the Cavs stepped up with then-rookie Daniel "Boobie" Gibson going 5-5 from 3 point country and scoring 31 points and Illgauskas putting together a solid line of 11 points and 12 rebounds. The end result was a 4-2 series victory after LeBron James bounced back from 10 points in Game 1 and 19 points in Game 2.

So, Celtics, all I'm saying is be careful. With the way they've played on the road, allowing 48% shooting compared to 35% allowed at home, The Quicken Loans Arena, or the "Q" as it's known, could erupt and King James' kingdom could be re-energized. So the story is set, and whether you agree or not, LeBron is not who the Celtics would like to have be more-than-usually focused in Game 3 on his home floor. He may not be lighting it up at the moment, but his impact on a game is as permanent as one of his 6,000 tattoos.