NBA fans may talk for years about where they were the night LeBron James joined the hall of basketball immortals with one of the great performances in playoff history.
Maybe it would have been enough that the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Detroit Pistons 109-107 in double overtime to take a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference finals, with Game 6 Saturday in Cleveland.
But it perhaps will be a footnote to the James story. He scored 48 points — including his team’s last 25 points, the winning drive to the basket with 2.2 seconds left and 29 of his team’s last 30 points from early in the fourth quarter through the end of the second overtime.
“The way we played in Games 1 and 2 (79-76 losses with James passing off for a missed three-pointer at the end of Game 1 and then failing in an attempt at the rim in Game 2), we couldn’t leave without getting one win with as well as we played in this building,” James said. “That was my mind-set.
“This is a big win, one of the biggest wins in Cavaliers franchise history. But we have a goal. We have another game Saturday [to] get where we wanted to be all year.”
That would be in the NBA Finals, which would be a first for the franchise and the ultimate stage for the kid who made perhaps the ultimate competitive statement Thursday night.
Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Elgin Baylor, Larry Bird, Bob Pettit, Wilt Chamberlain, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West, Rick Barry.
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Some have scored more, but it’s difficult to say any ever have done it any better in a big moment, against one of the league’s best defensive teams and surrounded by a roster populated mostly with aging veterans and inexperienced reserves.
Just about every time James gave up the ball, something bad happened — from a Sasha Pavlovic missed shot to open the second overtime to Anderson Varejao kicking the ball away for a late 24-second violation.
So James simply took over, took on the defense and took away everyone’s breath the way all of the great ones have done.
“I wanted to be aggressive, not let them make too much of a run and give ourselves an opportunity to win at the end of regulation,” James said. “It took two overtimes, but we gutted out a victory.”
James’ breathtaking run began right before the Pistons appeared to take over with a 10-0 run for an 88-81 lead with a bit more than three minutes left.
After a James driving basket and one of two Drew Gooden free throws brought the Cavaliers within 88-84 with 2:49 left in regulation, James scored every Cleveland point through the end of the second overtime in an amazing variety of ways, with the Pistons’ defense packed in to deny him and defenders Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun Prince chasing him.
Here are some highlights of what James did:
*Drove through the entire Pistons defense for slam dunks twice in the last 31.4 seconds to tie the game in regulation. Billups then missed a potential game-winner at the buzzer. James scored 11 points in the fourth quarter.
*Scored on a dunk, made 5 of 6 free throws and an off-balance 20-footer for a 100-96 lead in the first overtime before the Pistons got free throws from Rasheed Wallace and Billups (21 points, second to Richard Hamilton’s 26) to tie the game with 3.1 seconds in the first overtime.
*Held off the Pistons in the second overtime after Hamilton hit a jumper for a two-point lead and Chris Webber hit a jumper and was fouled for a 107-104 lead with 1:28 left.
Then it was James and more James. He pulled up for a 26-footer to tie the score 107-107 with 1:14 left and then followed a Wallace miss with a drive past a stunned Pistons defense for a layup and the game-winner with 2.2 seconds to go.
Last year in the conference semifinals, just like this year, the Pistons took a 2-0 lead and lost three straight before going into Cleveland for Game 6, hanging on to win and closing at home.
But that was a Pistons team seemingly not taking the young Cavs seriously.
This time the Pistons have given it their best shot in speeding up the game and defending with passion, and it hasn’t been enough.
“We tried to get the ball out of his hands, trap, but he did a very good job dribbling out,” Pistons coach Flip Saunders said of James.
“It was a great game to watch, a great game for the winning team but disappointing for the losing team. He was in a zone tonight. He made some phenomenal shots. He was in an unbelievable zone.”
There’s a Jimmy Buffett song, “Gypsies in the Palace,” about these invited visitors who wreck a home. It’s a lively, cavalier song, much like the visiting Cavaliers appeared to be playing at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
They are hoping it gets them to their own Margaritaville.
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