LeBron James' Greatest Playoff Game Performance Ever - On This Day in 2007
42LeBron James' Greatest Playoff Game Performance Ever
In a rematch of the thrilling 2006 second-round series, the Pistons and Cavaliers matched up in perhaps one of the most closely contested series in NBA history, with the first five games being decided by six points or less. The spotlight fell on LeBron James. Despite gaining some momentum in the opening games of the series against the experienced Pistons, key last-second decisions by James led to Cleveland losses in Games 1 and 2 in Detroit, by identical scores, in which Cleveland led for most of the two games. They faced a 0–2 deficit for the second straight year, but would easily remember from the year before that they could win three straight games to get back into the series.
With media circles on his back for his complacency in these games (James had a then playoff career low 10 points in Game 1), James came back to will the Cavs to close victories in Games 3 and 4 in Cleveland, evening the series at 2. The series shifted back to Detroit for a Game 5 that proved to be one of the most memorable postseason games in recent NBA history. In a match that went into double overtime, the Cavaliers stunned the Pistons on their home court, thanks to LeBron James' playoff career-high 48-point performance. James scored the Cavaliers' final 25 points, including all 18 points in overtime, forced the second OT with a driving dunk and made a driving layup with 2.2 seconds left in the second OT to silence the Palace crowd. A game tying buzzer beater by Chauncey Billups rimmed out making it two straight 2-point wins at the Palace in Game 5.
The Cavaliers took advantage of their home court in 2007 and exploded in Game 6 to close out the Pistons, and to clinch the franchise's first trip to the NBA Finals. Rookie Daniel Gibson scored a career-high 31 points, including five 3-pointers, to lift the Cavs in the second half behind a roaring home crowd.
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Detroit Pistons :
Starters
Chauncey Billups
Tayshaun Prince
Richard Hamilton
Rasheed Wallace
Chris Webber
Reserves
Jason Maxiell
Lindsey Hunter
Carlos Delfino
Dale Davis
Antonio McDyess
Ronald Murray
Nazr Mohammed
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Starters
LeBron James
Sasha Pavlović
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Larry Hughes
Drew Gooden
Reserves
Anderson Varejão
Daniel Gibson
Donyell Marshall
Damon Jones
Eric Snow
Scot Pollard
Ira Newble
LeBron James scored last 25 points for Cleveland. He was 22 years old at this point of time.
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