CLEVELAND Ohio In so many ways he's not the same LeBron James who left the Cavaliers in July of 2010.
That James was more athletic. He ran faster. He jumped higher. He made the game look easy.
But he was not close to the James of today the James who knows what it means to lead his team to a championship. This is the LeBron James who fully understands what it takes to lead a team and to be there for his teammates.
Over and over I kept thinking about that during the playoffs. The latest example was after the Cavaliers' 114 111 victory Sunday over Atlanta which produced a 3 0 lead in the best of seven Eastern Conference Finals.
James opened with a scoreless first quarter. This was the 171st postseason game for James and only the third time he failed to score in the first quarter. Yet the Hawks had only a 24 21 lead.
My teammates kept me afloat said James. I was 0 of 9 in the first quarter ... we were in the game because of my teammates. They picked me up.
James missed his first 10 shots then made 14 of 27 to finish with 37 points 18 rebounds and 13 assists. It was an amazing triple double.
If you believe that a rising tide raises all boats then James sweated enough in his 47 minutes on the court to do just that. But he wanted everyone to know that he didn't do it alone.
I gave everything I had tonight he said. My teammates did (too) ... we played our tails off.
DELLY'S BUDDY
Not only did James have the back of Matthew Dellavedova but he also covered the gritty guard on all sides. Some of the Hawks accused Dellavedova of being what amounts to a dirty player even if they didn't quite use those words.
Atlanta's DeMarre Carroll did say Sometimes when you compete so hard you can take it overboard. ... There's got to be a fine line between competing and being crazy.
If you check the replay of the incident with Dellavedova that led to the ejection of Al Horford it's hard to blame the Cavs guard. A shot was missed. Dellavedova blocked out Horford. Bodies began to fly around. Carroll went to the ground. Dellavedova tripped over Carroll and hit the floor. It also appeared Horford pulled down Dellavedova.
Horford then landed on top of Dellavedova. Then Horford shoved down Dellavedova and the 6 foot 10 Atlanta center was ejected.
Several Hawks said Dellavedova has a track record of dubious plays. They were upset when Dellavedova hit the floor for a loose ball in Game 2. The Hawks' Kyle Korver tripped over him Korver suffering a season ending high ankle sprain.
I didn't see anything extreme on the part of Dellavedova on either play. Neither did James who rushed to Dellavedova's defense.
This is my guy this is my teammate and this is a guy who goes out and works his tail off every night said James. People are trying to give him a bad rap. He doesn't deserve it and I don't like it.
James wasn't finished.
There's no difference between what Delly did to Kyle Korver (in Game 2) and 18 guys diving on the floor late in the game tonight James said. It was like 6 7 guys diving on the floor for the loose ball ... just no one got hurt.
And there was more.
Ever since you were a kid the ball on the floor the first man to the floor usually gets the ball explained James.
And there was even more.
There's no difference between me boxing out or Al Hoford boxing out and Delly boxing someone out. That's a fundamental box out. That's all it is.
MATURITY SHOWS
This LeBron James at the age of 30 has never worked so hard to score points and win games.
The Cavaliers team that he has on the court most nights without Kevin Love (shoulder surgery) and Kyrie Irving (foot and knee problems) isn't close in talent to his last four Miami teams that reached the NBA Finals.
The experience over the years has helped me get to this point said James. My game is so much better than when I was younger ... the mental side of the game.
James loves this team. He praises Tristan Thompson for his relentless rebounding. He embraces Dellavedova for his defense. He relishes the all around performance of Iman Shumpert He rebounds. He defends whoever you need him to defend and he gives us 15 points.
He keeps talking about defense about guys answering the call.
After most playoff games James sounds like a coach. He appears to have memorized the box score. He talks about defense rebounding second chance points and field goal percentage. He quickly chastises himself for too many turnovers or even slowing down the offense.
The guy (Dellavedova) has been thrown into a situation that he wasn't thrown into all season for the most part James said. That's being our starting point guard with Kyrie (injured the last two games).
Assuming the Cavs win this series James will advance to the NBA Finals for the fifth year in a row. The last players to do that were some key members of the Boston Celtics in the dynasty seasons of the 1960s.
James knows that he doesn't climb that mountain alone and he's doing an admirable job of praising those who are with him on this journey.
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