Down but Not Out: LeBron and the Cavs Have One Last Chance in Game Six
26 hours have passed since the Cleveland Cavaliers played the worst basketball game that I have experienced in my lifetime.
When the game ended last night, it took every ounce of will power in my body not to get on my computer and write a rant bashing the Cavaliers organization, LeBron James, and Mike Brown for laying the biggest egg in playoff history.
Now that a day has passed and the Cavaliers face the biggest game of the organization's history in less than 24 hours, I feel ready to write with a clear mind.
The Boston Celtics have outplayed the Cleveland Cavaliers in every facet of this series.
The more experienced, battle tested, championship team has shined brightly through five games. But they have not won the series yet.
If you take away the 29-point blowout in Boston, the Cavaliers have failed to produce a complete performance from opening tip-off until the final horn.
And I'm sorry to burst everyone's bubbles, but the blame extends further than LeBron James.
Yes, LeBron is the leader of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He is the "King," "The Chosen One," and all the other nicknames that Nike, Cleveland, his entourage, and the media have thrust upon him since the age of 18.
But LeBron James is only one man, one athlete, one member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Danny Ferry, Dan Gilbert, and even Mike Brown have built this Cavaliers team around the strengths and abilities of LeBron James, which was the right thing to do.
LeBron is at his best when he is attacking the hole, which attracts double teams and collapses a defense. This in turn opens up outside shots for the "complementary shooters" that the organization has surrounded LeBron with.
Anthony Parker, Mo Williams, Daniel Gibson, and even the aging "Z" all play to their strengths when LeBron is attacking.
This means that when LeBron is not attacking, these players have not been taught what to do, which is what we saw in game five.
They stood on the perimeter passing the ball around waiting for LeBron to be, well, LeBron.
Only it didn't happen.
Mo Williams realized this at the tail end of that Boston 16-0 run that slammed the door on LeBron, when he began to run an effective pick and roll with Shaq.
Only it was too late; the lead was too large to conquer without LeBron in attack mode.
Come Thursday night, there is no time to wait for LeBron James.
The Cleveland Cavaliers must give it their all with or without the normal LeBron James dominance. And this time they must leave everything they have on the court.
It is up to LeBron James to determine the rest of his career, his image, and his "will to win" in game six.
The team will come to play, and after watching their leader give up on them, will be ready to give it their all with or without his normal presence.
LeBron has the opportunity to make up for a poor performance, an awful press conference, and what looked like giving up on a city in just one basketball game.
LeBron's REAL legacy begins Thursday night in Boston.
If he wants to be known as the player who turned his back on a city to leave for New York, Miami, Chicago, etc. that's fine, then he can turn in another poor performance, like in Cleveland, where he allows a team who cannot stop him to turn him into a jump shooter, pack his bags, and sign on someone else's dotted line come July 1.
But if, and I mean IF, LeBron James decides he wants to live up to all of the hype, if he wants to be the real King of Cleveland, the Akron Hammer, the Chosen One: he has that opportunity in Boston.
The Cleveland Cavaliers can win two basketball games in a row.
It starts with winning in Boston, which they have done before, and then winning one at home: which they have also done before.
The great thing about a bad game is that it can be easily forgotten with an epic performance with your back against the wall.
My only question is: are LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers ready to leave their "guns empty" and leave their hearts on the court Thursday night?
