LeBron James

[King Taharqa]

James 44 points leads Heat past Blazers

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)—LeBron James’ crunch-time performance left even teammate Dwyane Wade in awe.

James had a season-high 44 points, 13 rebounds and six assists, Wade added 34 points and eight rebounds, and the Miami Heat beat the Portland Trail Blazers 107-100 in overtime Sunday night for their 13th straight road victory.

“You look at games like this and moments like this and you really understand why we decided to team up and come together,” Wade said. “I am a fan of his on the court and I am just glad I get to experience this in the same jersey he wears, instead of being on the other end.”

James buried two deep 3-pointers and made two free throws in the extra period for the Heat (30-9), who have won 21 of their last 22 games after a slow start to the season. Chris Bosh added 18 points and eight rebounds. The Big Three combined for all but 11 of Miami’s points.

Miami is three road wins away from tying the NBA record held by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers. The Heat needed to scramble to keep the streak going after Wesley Matthews hit a 3-pointer to put the Blazers up 89-82 with 2:13 left.

James took the game over from the there, making a 3-pointer and two more free throws to tie it.

“I had to do whatever it took to win,” James said. “Coach put me in that position and it created a mismatch for them and I was able to use my athleticism and quickness against whoever was on me.”

LaMarcus Aldridge had 31 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists for the Blazers (20-18), who had an eight-game home win streak snapped. Nicolas Batum added 22 points and Matthews had 14.

Portland had the ball with 38 seconds left in overtime, trailing 104-100, but Aldridge traveled in the backcourt. James’ second 3 in the extra period, from 26 feet out, put away the game.

“That’s what big-time players do,” Matthews said. “He was coming down, hitting big shots—daggers—and we couldn’t do anything about it.”

Portland’s veteran players were well aware that James has a history of torching the Blazers in the Rose Garden—he is averaging 33.5 points and 10.6 rebounds in his last seven games in Portland—and there was some concern in the locker room that the intimidation factor would come into play if the game was close.

“I didn’t want to jinx it pregame,” Aldridge said, “but every time he’s played here, he’s shot the ball well. I didn’t want to say that to my teammates, but he seems to save all his jump shots for us.”

The Heat went into overtime for the second straight game after winning at Milwaukee on Friday. Portland led for most of the second half, but James tied it at 93 with two free throws with 24 seconds remaining. Andre Miller then missed two shots in final seconds.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap;_ylt=AmlsJqjP3zYq7dupQET0T568vLYF?gid=2011010922

The King is still a prime candidate for his 3rd consecutive MVP.

[SOJA]

If Lebron had the drive of Michael he could be the greatest ever

[Porn Shop Clerk]

I still think he'd be more like Magic than Mike.

[King Taharqa]

KING wishes Cleveland and Cavs fans "the best"

MIAMI (AP)—LeBron James sees no reason to enjoy Cleveland’s epic struggles this season.

And it doesn’t give him a sense of vindication, either.

Speaking before the Miami Heat faced the Cavaliers on Monday night, James says Cleveland’s descent from a championship contender to the NBA’s worst team does nothing to prove that he made the right choice in joining up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in South Florida.

Cleveland entered Monday on a 20-game losing streak and brought an 8-39 record into the contest, the worst mark in the league. With James, the Cavaliers were the among the NBA’s elite, but not even seven months after he made “The Decision,” Cleveland is approaching the league losing-streak record.

“It didn’t matter for me if the Cavs were going to have a successful season or not,” James said. “I felt like I was making the right choice for me as an individual and for my career. Like I said, I have nothing bad to say about the players that I left and the team. I wish the organization the best. And I wish the fans, more than anything, the best because we had a lot of great years together.”

Cleveland entered Monday three losses shy of tying the single-season NBA futility record shared by the 1995-96 Vancouver Grizzlies and 1997-98 Denver Nuggets. Overall, the Cavaliers came into the Miami game having lost 30 of their last 31 games, along with 23 straight on the road.

Cleveland’s franchise already owns the all-time NBA losing-streak record, a 24-game slide that spanned from March to November 1982.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Ag1pmb8yrwrIeN4.t8qSOrm8vLYF?slug=ap-lebron-cavaliersstruggles

MIAMI (AP)—Dwyane Wade scored 26 of his 34 points in the first half, LeBron James added 24 points and eight assists against his former team and the Miami Heat beat Cleveland 117-90 on Monday night, sending the Cavaliers to their 21st straight loss.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2011013114

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Its interesting to note that in January 1980, then new Cavs owner Ted Stepien traded the Cavs future 1982 first round draft pick and guard Butch Lee to the LA Lakers for forward Don Ford and the Lakers 1980 first round pick that ended up as pick #22 in the 1980 NBA draft. The Cavs selected UNCC guard Chad Kinch with that pick. He played one season averaging less than 3 points a game.

In the 1982 season the Cavs had that 24 game losing streak that the article above speaks of. It must've been really shady and slimy looking to see a team TANK games on purpose for a pick they already knew they werent getting and was going to a competitive team in the LA Lakers. In fact, in the 1982 season, the Lakers defeated the Dr. J led 76ers in 6 games to win the NBA Finals. Then later that summer they ended up with the #1 overall pick. They selected from the University of North Carolina, forward James Worthy, a HOFer!!!

Since then the NBA has instituted the "Ted Stepien Rule" forbidding franchises from trading draft picks in consecutive years. And they created the draft "lottery" in 83 to help prevent teams from purposely tanking to get the #1 pick. Ironically, Cleveland did this again in '03 to get LeBron.

[rico6]

Cool, so Cleveland has always sucked.

[Swarly]

8-27 tonight for Kobe. 5 TOs, 1 assist. Seems the guy is still shell shocked from the ass whooping he took Saturday. Lakers are on a 3 game skid and havent won a game in over a week. You guys were right, Kobe really is better than Bron. :eek:

how is this any different than previous years? Lakers are always on cruise control until the post-season. they know how to turn it on when it matters.

--not a Lakers fan, just being real

[King Taharqa]

how is this any different than previous years? Lakers are always on cruise control until the post-season. they know how to turn it on when it matters.

--not a Lakers fan, just being real

No doubt, the Lake Show will play better once they get in the dance. They are a veteran ball club that is very well coached. They are also still the defending champs, so somebody gotta beat em 4 outta 7. But I do think its interesting they've struggled against the top 4 teams in the NBA this season. Havent beat a single one, and they have "aged" so to speak. Phil has already said he aint coming back next year, so this truly is the "last hurrah".

[Kevin Greene]

All alone, Miller had forever to set and prepare himself for a 3-pointer that bounced away in the final seconds of the Celtics’ 85-82 victory. Out of the congestion, James made the proper pass to Miller, but it wouldn’t negate his failure to make one of his two free throws with the Heat trailing 83-81 with 12.5 seconds left.

Nice choke job yesterday Bron Bron. :lol:

[Kevin Greene]

Magic rally from 24 down to stun Heat 99-96

Bosh and Bron Bron miss game tying 3s as time expires. The Heat now a pitiful 5-12 in games decided by 5 points or less.

Quite a collection of pussies they're assembling down in Miami.

[Millions]

OT a little but Chris Bosh is a st& up b1tch LMAO

Three national TV games. Three big leads. Three L's. WTF is up with this squad late in games? You can talk about their half court offense all day but it's like these dudes forget how to make shots in the fourth and can't stop sh!t.

[Kakarot]

Man, Bosh been a b*tch. Durant was right when he called him a fake tough guy.

No championship for Lebron and the gang this year. They've had trouble all year closing games out.

[Ohio]

1-8 against the top 5 teams in the NBA after getting embarrassed by the old @$$ Spurs. I call it the Lebron effect, choking against the best teams in the league....

[TheMostInterestingMan]

Lebrick does it again today against the Bulls. I bet anyone on here $1000 that Melo gets a ring before Bron.

[TheMostInterestingMan]

(If I were a betting man that is :D)