Yes Kobe is great, and D Wade is on fire. But, honestly, is there any doubt that LeBron deserves the 2009 NBA MVP award?
LeBron was dominant again on Tuesday night, powering the Cavs to a huge win over their Eastern Conference rivals, the Orlando Magic. Per AP game recap: LeBron James finished with 43 points, including a long 3-pointer with 47.4 seconds left and two clutch free throws with 8.7 seconds to go, as Cleveland avoided just its second loss at home with a 97-93 win over Orlando on Tuesday night.
With Cleveland trailing 93-92 in a game soaked in postseason intensity, James, wearing green and white Nikes to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, pulled up in front of Orlando’s bench and coldly knocked down his 3. It may have said “Irish” on the back of his shoes—his high school’s nickname—but there was no luck involved.
“That was just being confident. Being down one and taking a 3, a lot of people wouldn’t have done that,” James said. “I’m one of the guys who would do that. I knocked it down.”
And check out this statistical tidbit from the Elias Sports Bureau: “Orlando (49-17) played at Cleveland (53-13) in the marquee game of Tuesday night's NBA schedule. LeBron James rose to the challenge, producing 43 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in the Cavaliers' 97-93 win. James is the first player in NBA history with at least 40 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a regular-season game between two teams each 30-or-more games above .500.”
With the Boston Celtics losing again last night, the Cavs have opened up a nearly insurmountable 4.5 game lead on the C’s in the race for the top seed out East – which should only further cement LeBron’s status as the league’s most valuable player.
On a note related to just how important that #1 seed is: I stumbled across an amazing stat the other day. The home team has won 15 consecutive games (postseason included) in the Cavs-Celtics rivalry. Wow. Buy your NBA Finals tickets right now. No was LeBron loses Game 7 of the ECF in Cleveland.
