More than two years have passed since LeBron James played a game in Cleveland due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Los Angeles Lakers star certainly made up for lost time on Monday, probably showing his highest performance against his former team.
James scored 46 points in the Lakers’ 115-108 win over the Cavaliers, extending LA’s winning streak to 10-0 to start the season, a franchise record, and made it back in style. his native Ohio.
“Cooked at home,” he later told a video conference with reporters. “I felt good to go back to my paradise, to my place of rest and that is to be at home.”
For much of the trip, it was all warm and vague feelings for the 18-year-old veteran. He spent time with his mother and uncle. He greeted former teammate Cedi Osman with a strong hug during the warm-ups, wearing the league’s health and safety protocols to show some love. He has long called for Cavs employee Mark “Cobra” Cashman, calling him “the greatest type of equipment in the world.”
But, heading into the fourth quarter, watching the Cavs 89-87, after missing a laugh at the buzzer that would have tied things up, James found a reason to give up the cute guy routine and bury himself. former team.
After his 14-foot over the Taurean Prince jumped twice on the sidelines and came out, James spotted Cavs Basketball Chief Jason Hillman sitting in a group near the baseline with the rest of the Cavs’ main office. and applauding to celebrate the stray shooting, sources told ESPN.
“I felt like he was a little too excited to miss me,” James said afterward, refusing to name Hillman when asked who caught his eye. “He was very excited that we lost that shot. A little more than I would have liked. But obviously he has to take root for his team. And he was, he presented that.
“So I knew I had another quarter, and the fourth is my favorite.”
And what the fourth trimester was. James outscored his opponent on his own – the team he once helped deliver his only championship in 2016, let’s think – 21-19 in the fourth to push the Lakers against a lively Cavs team who defeated the Brooklyn Nets twice on their home floor just last week.
After the massacre ended, James left the field 9-for-10, hitting a 3 from the Cleveland “C” logo in midfield and a few more punches from the outside while adding two assists, two steals and two blocks, all his former team could do was recognize James’ greatness.
“It doesn’t take long for Bron to go,” a Cavs source told ESPN about the brief exchange James had with Hillman, a four-time MVP who casts an icy look in Hillman’s direction before heading for the bench. Lakers. – It was unreal tonight.
Cavs coach JB Bickerstaff added: “You take your hat off. There’s a reason he’s who he is and he’s done all the things he’s done. If he makes such shots, you hit him in the ass.”
It was the highest score James has ever scored against Cleveland, as he won his career record at 15-1 in games he played against the team he fit in for over 11 seasons. And he was just as accurate as ever with a single measure – 73.1% of his field in 19-for-26 shooting was equal to the best he’s ever shot out of 240 games in his career. tried at least 25 shots (regular season and playoffs combined). The only time he went 19-for-26? Game 6 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals in Boston, which many consider the most important win of his career.
James, at 36 years and 26 days, became the oldest Lakers player with a 40-point game since Kobe Bryant scored 60 at the age of 37, 234 days in the last game of his career.
“I just never put a cap on my potential,” James said. “I always wanted to keep getting better and better to a point where I can still dictate. [what] the defense can do. And the defense can’t dictate what I should do. “
James finished 7-for-11 out of 3, increasing his shooting mark to 41.2% from outside this season, which would be the best percentage of his career if he continued.
“Taking pictures,” said Lakers coach Frank Vogel, “was just ridiculous and just one of those nights for centuries for him.”