Nike LeBron James Zoom VI “Taxi Cab” Edition
February 4, 2009While We’re Waiting… Lebron is Good, Kerry Wood, Mangini Understood?
February 5, 2009
The question I was asked the most throughout the day on Wednesday was whether or not I thought LeBron would try to top Kobe’s 61 point performance in Madison Square Garden on Monday night.
I always thought the question seemed kind of strange. First of all, I thought, LeBron has only had five 50+ point games in his career, and his career high is 56, which he dropped on the Raptors in 2005. So to try to top 61 points seemed far fetched. Besides, that’s not LeBron’s game, I told myself.
Heck, LeBron himself said he wasn’t going to try to top Kobe’s brilliant performance. After the Raptors game Tuesday, LeBron said,
“I just go out and play my game,” James said. “I’m not a video game where you can just expect me to go out there and score 60 or 70. I play the game to win the game. I’m not into individual accolades. Kobe Bryant’s performance was unbelievable. I watched every second of it. It’s not about individuals in this league.”
So no, I did not think LeBron would be able to top Kobe’s 61 point onslaught.
Only, the thing is…..I was wrong. LeBron topped it not in points scored, but in significance of accomplishment.
On Wednesday night against the New York Knicks inside Madison Square Garden, LeBron had an historic triple double, going for 52 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists in leading the Cavaliers to a 107-102 victory.
This astounding stat line is historic on multiple levels. On the point total side alone, LeBron’s 52 is the 3rd highest point total in MSG history behind only Kobe’s 61 and Michael Jordan’s 55. LeBron joins MJ as the only player to have multiple 50+ point games in the Garden (LeBron scored 50 points there last year as well). LeBron’s 50 point triple-double is the first of its kind since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it in 1975. This was LeBron’s 3rd career 40+ point triple-double. Going back to the 1986-87 season, the only other players to have a 40+ point triple-double were Michael Jordan (3 times), Larry Bird (twice), Michael Adams, Chris Webber, Tracy McGrady, and Vince Carter. The player to come closest to joining LeBron in this feat was Larry Bird, who had 49 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists against the Blazers in 1992.
In what has already been a remarkable career on a perhaps unprecedented path, LeBron’s 52 point triple-double joins a list of unforgettable performances. In fact, as far as individual performances go, the only LeBron James game that can beat this one is the 48 special he dropped on the Pistons in the 2007 playoffs. It tops the 32-11-11 triple double in his first ever playoff game. It tops the 45 point performance in the Game 5 duel with Gilbert Arenas in the 2006 playoffs.
LeBron has been close to being here before. Last year he had 51-8-9 against the Grizzlies and 50-8-10 against the Knicks. He had 47-12-9 in a memorable 2006 showdown with Dwyane Wade and the Heat. But none of those can match the glamour of the 52-10-11 stat line. 52, 10, and 11 are numbers that will be burned in the memories of Cavalier fans minds forever.
So how did LeBron get to those numbers? We can break it down by quarter:
- 20 points, 5 rebounds 2 assists
- 8 points, 0 rebounds, 3 assists
- 11 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists
- 13 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists
It’s interesting to note some of the intricacies of this box score. LeBron came out on fire, hitting 6 of 9 from the field in the 1st quarter and 4 of 6 in the 2nd quarter. In the 2nd half, however, his outside shot stopped falling, and LeBron found himself having to go to the hoop again. This allowed him to rack up some points at the free throw line, as he finished the game 16-19 at the line.
The most bizarre stats, though, are the rebounding numbers. After grabbing 5 rebounds in the 1st quarter, his numbers read: 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists. That’s right, LeBron James was on pace for 80 points, 20 rebounds, and 8 assists. That was the moment it first became clear this had potential to be a special evening.
After just an 8-0-3 2nd quarter, however, LeBron’s pace had “dropped” to 56-10-10, which was very close to where he ended up at. But the rebounds were about to become an issue. After grabbing a trio of boards in the 3rd, LeBron went the first 11+ minutes in the 4th quarter without grabbing a single rebound. After crashing the boards with a purpose in the 1st quarter, LeBron had only snagged 3 rebounds in the next 35 minutes of play.
Stuck on 8 total rebounds, LeBron’s dazzling performance was facing a dime-a-dozen legacy, forever doomed to be lumped in together with those previously mentioned games against the Knicks, Grizzlies, and Heat. So it was with this uncertainty hanging in the air….would this game be a legendary performance, or just another great game by a great player…that the electricity in the arena became palpable, even when watching on TV. There was this weird sort of duality between the manner in which the Knicks fans were balancing the fact that this was a close, winnable game for the Knicks with the realization of the potential for grandeur they had a chance to witness. It was a swirl of conflict and struggle that was hanging in the balance.
Finally, with 39 seconds left in the game, Ben Wallace looked to come down with a rebound, but bobbled the ball a bit and it went into LeBron’s hands, and he was credited with his 9th rebound of the game. That setup the final sequence of the game.
With 9 seconds left in the game, Zydrunas Ilgasukas hit a free throw to make it 107-102 Cavs. The Knicks called a time out and were inbounding the ball at mid court. It all came down to this sequence. One shot. One rebound. That’s all that stood between a game for the ages and another run of the mill great game for LeBron.
During that time out it was easy to begin to reflect on the significance of what was about to happen. When you isolate it to the basic core, one simple rebound seems hardly significant enough to alter forever the way a performance is perceived. Is a 10 rebound game really that much better than a 9 rebound game? Wasn’t this really all about the convenient and lazy confines of a grouping mechanism, called triple doubles, created by the NBA society to make it easier on us to quantify what makes a performance truly great? Would jumping in the air and coming down with the basketball off a missed basket really mean anything at all?
The answer, of course, is absolutely. That one rebound represented 34 years. It has been 34 years since anyone had managed to collect a triple-double with 50 or more points. The triple-double mark may be a contrived device for the accessibility of those who follow the game, but it also gives us a barometer with which to measure the mark of incomparable greatness.
This was all on the line with 9 seconds left in the game, and LeBron James having just 9 rebounds for the game. Upon inbounding the ball, Chris Duhon took a 3point shot with about 3 seconds left. The ball was off the mark, and LeBron vaulted himself toward the backboard and came down with the ball in his hands with time expiring, for his 10th rebound of the game.
A look of exuberance crossed his face, and New York crowd, originally pulling so hard for a Knick win, was now buzzing with excitement over the realization of what had just happened. 52 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists. An isolated moment of pure athletic excellence not seen in three decades.
I’m sure there will be plenty of people who will insist Kobe’s 61 point performance was the better game. I suppose I can understand that to some small extent. 61 is an unreal number. It’s the most in MSG history. It’s the kind of scoring output we often think impossible in today’s game. Especially coming from a SG who has to rely on an outside shot. It was a truly great game. But Kobe had 0 rebounds and only 3 assists in his game. Kobe’s game was great, LeBron’s game was epic.
It’s hard to fully understand right now just what LeBron’s 52 point triple-double means in the grand scheme of things. Who knows how this game will be remembered 20 years from now when LeBron has since retired. With LeBron, you never know what he’s all capable of doing in the future to render this game meaningless. But for this moment in time, in the history of the game as we currently know it to be, LeBron gave all basketball fans a special gift on this evening, and something we can cherish for a very long time…..or at least until LeBron somehow tops it.
23 Comments
Lol Lebron saying “It’s not about individuals in this league” Just admit it is … It’s not a bad thing… I am glad Lebron tried to answer the bell. I don’t think that Kobe can have 10 assist and over 30 points in the same night, his mind set is either all scoring or “I guess I have to listen to Phill”
I was thinking about the importance of that rebound. It really is silly the way sports are quantified. Had LeBron not come down with the rebound on that completely unimportant play, this game is not seen in the same light. Which is sort of comical – but that’s the way of the world.
A few thoughts:
-Great writeup man – seriously, good stuff.
-No doubt in my mind this game was more impressive than Kobe’s 61. 51 points, 11 assists and only THREE turnovers is absolutely disgusting. A bunch of those assists were for 3 – Lebron was directly responsible for about 85% of our offense tonight. Simply mesmerizing.
-You could tell the Cavs were trying to get LeBron that last rebound. He was standing in the middle of the paint and the rest of the Cavs were just trying to box out their own man. It was a nice gesture by the Cavs.
-Nate Robinson tried his best to get that rebound, he didn’t want LeBron getting that triple double.
-LeBron really didn’t play Cavalier basketball. He went in with the mindset to score big, and once he realized his shot was smooth, he was off and firing. This was on the second night of a back to back, and this is the first time I’ve seen LeBron play with an agenda – there were many times you could tell he was trying to put on a show. So this begs the question. If LeBron’s mindset was that of Kobe’s (who has played with a scoring agenda almost his entire career) how many points could LeBron put up? Hopefully we’ll never know, because he’s a team player and does whatever it takes to win, but I honestly think LeBron could put up 80+ against a poor defensive team if he just decided he was going to shoot or attack the basket on every play. Remember he did this tonight on the second night of a back to back, and he had 11 assists.
-The Cavs continue to jack up jumpers on offense. Austin Carr has been visibly upset with this the last few games, as have I. The Cavs are winning games, but they aren’t doing it the right way. These kinds of wins aren’t sustainable against good teams. I mean, the Knicks have absolutely ZERO defensive low-post presence and other than Lebron attacking (which was wonderful, he needs to do this more often) we had almost no points in the paint.
-LeBron’s passing is so vastly underrated it sickens me. He might be the best passer in the NBA. He’s THAT GOOD. That pass to Z at the end that he floated over David Lee and secured the win was HUGE.
-LeBron’s finger roll over Wilson Chandler was sick. That was good defense and Lebron just jumped OVER HIM.
-Cavs need to get into the offense sooner. That doesn’t mean jack up jumpers soon, it means get the ball up court, and dump into the low post. Way too many possessions (against a horrible defensive team) where the ball never made it’s way inside the 3 point line until 6 seconds left on the clock. Hopefully with the time off, they can eliminate a few bad habits b4 the Lakers game.
-GO CAVS!!!
This must have made ABC so happy, as even though ratings were through the roof for the first Lakers-Cavs matchup this season, they might be even higher the way these 2 guys lit up the Knicks. Everyone will be debating whose game was better up until this Sunday.
That said, the Knicks are so bad at defense that Golden St., VMI, and the Dallas Academy Girls Basketball team think that they suck on defense. I mean, where is your pride NY? Do you even try on defense? Do you care at all? I’m going to be honest, the fact that this performance was at MSG means nothing to me and does not add anything to the significance of it because the Knicks are the worst defensive squad in the NBA, nay, the world.
They did play D in the second half on Lebron – but mostly because they didn’t want him to break Kobe’s record the very next game. They didn’t care if anyone else shot.
Agree with a lot of the (excellent) post and Tsunami’s comment, and wrote similarly on my blog. Was a great game to be at, though. Wow.
Nice write-up, RockKing, and fortunately I was able to watch the game online thanks to a tip from a WFNY reader.
This is a tremendous year and the whole slogan about “witnessing” LeBron rings truer and truer as the milestones pass and the records fall.
Rock – what is it about LeBron and Kobe that so many people relentlessly insist that Kobe is better in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary?
I just read Chris Sheridan’s article on the Daily Dime and it’s the most negative (albeit passive-aggressively negative) article I have read about LeBron from a non-fan this year. On THIS NIGHT.
Do people feel like LeBron hasn’t paid his dues? That he’s not deserved of his freakish genetics? What exactly is it?
I’m just amazed at how much more love Kobe seems to get everyday in spite of the increased separation LeBron is putting between the two. Does anybody really believe the Cavs would be 39-9 right now if LeBron was replaced by Kobe on the Cavs? Does anybody doubt that the Lakers would still be elite if not more so?
LeBron’s Twitter (don’t know if it really is his) said that he wanted to top the 61 last night, but he “got close”.
http://twitter.com/KingLebronJames
Does anyone feel, as I do, that the “holy Madison Square Garden” thing has been hyped to near senility? It feels exactly like the phony mystique built up about Yankee Stadium. The Yankees’ play-by-play man John Sterling would inevitably put the same asinine question to players playing there for the first time: “How does it feel to be in Yankee Stadium?” Any player with two hairs of sense would answer, “The stadium is fine, but it’s just a baseball game.” Occasionally, a moron would take the bate: “Oh, it’s real cool, I mean, Babe Ruth and all that, yeah…” And all that there was left for Sterling to do was to lick his chops and ask for seconds.
The hype feels a lot like a back-handed way for New York-based media to implant the idea into LeBron’s mind that if it is true greatness he seeks, he can only find it in that most holy of arenas — “with that most horrible of teams,” adds the voice of reason.
LeBron now ties Dwayne Wade for league scoring lead:
-LBJ: 28.5ppg
-DW: 28.5ppg
-Kobe: 27.5ppg
I’m with others who get the feeling that if Lebron wanted he could dominate a lesser team and put up 80. The guy is just unstoppable getting to the basket when he’s determined to do so, irregardless of having to step through five defenders. That said……his comments about stats not being part of his game are self-depricating. Yes he’s the complete player, but don’t think for a minute his stats (scoring included) don’t mean everything to him-that’s why he dominates the ball even now with a true point guard on board. He’s gonna get his shots off, every night (and he should), and he is well aware of his stats.
The guy can do whatever he wants on the court, it’s that simple. He’s one for the ages………so what if he wants to dominate the ball?!
If he didn’t get the tenth rebound it would still have been a better performance than Kobe’s. The idea that we should be so excited about one rebound that was inconsequential to the outcome of the game just doesn’t seem right. Isn’t this the same thing that caused Ricky Davis to shoot at his own basket?
I felt, about 5 minutes into the game, LeBron was of the mindset to outscore Bryant in the Garden. It felt like he was wanting 62 so bad the way he’d bring the ball up the floor and jack up a shot, or drive the lane. I’m glad the Cavs won, but I’m kind of disturbed by this. Don’t get me wrong, i’m over – impressed by James’ perfomance, but I just felt he was out to out-do Kobe in front of his boy Jay-Z.
that was amazing… 3rd highest total by a visitor in MSG history but whats more significant is his 52-11-10, that should be made into a shirt and sold to new yorkers as a token of what their money cant buy. let them chew on that piece of irony
that was amazing… 3rd highest total by a visitor in MSG history but whats more significant is his 52-11-10, that should be made into a shirt and sold to new yorkers as a token of what their money cant buy. let them chew on that piece of irony
Adam-let’s send one of your shirts to New Yorker Stephen A. Smith!
Chris Sheridan makes me sick. That write up on the Daily Dime is just another slap in the face to Cleveland this year. Mo gets a snub, this idiot talks about LeBron’s epic performance as if Kobe could do it too. Whatever, Kobe is a smooth scorer I’ll give you that, but noway he could do what LBJ does. Sheridan just wants LBJ in New York so bad.
@Phil
It actually is – because of the lighting – players love it. People forget about lighting. If you remember how the Richfield Coliseum’s had 1 set of lighting for before/after/intermissions, and when the game was on the lights were all above the court and the seating was all draped in darkness.
It’s the only court left that way. God knows why nobdody else has done this. Jordan himself said he loved the Coliseum b/c of the lighting, and he loved old Chicago Arena and wasn’t a huge fain of US Air arena.
Ask guys who played in the old NBA venues vs the new arenas, it’s much harder to pick out the basket – due to the crowd area having more lighting. It’s small, but it does make a difference.
That’s a really interesting fact, bridgecrosser, and it helps to explain what looked to me at first like highly photoshopped photos of the game, where the players seemed to be transfixed by a holy light from above while the outskirts of the arena was forsaken to near total darkness.
But in citing that fact, do you think there is no merit to the idea that the “holy Madison Square Garden” thing has been overblown, and possibly for seditious reasons (namely, the lusting after LeBron by Knicks and NY media)?
LeBron mentioned something about the great players who have played there; he didn’t talk about the lighting.
“On the point total side alone, LeBron’s 52 is the 3rd highest point total in MSG history behind only Kobe’s 61 and Michael Jordan’s 55.”
Third highest point total by a visitor. Bernard King had 60 in a game once, and that was the previous MSG record before Kobe broke it.
@Phil
I’d agree some there is definitely some exageration (it’s in NY!) … but the fact is, it’s the Fenway Park, Lambeau Field, Hinkle Fieldhouse of the NBA. It held the NIT’s (when it was bigger than the NCAA) and tons of great games… Plus it’s not all jacked up by luxury suites on top of the court… the great lighting provides good offense… good NYC vibe… etc
But it definitely has a legitimite place as a Mecca of _hoops_ (not to be confused with the Knicks, who are a grossly overrated franchise).
Our offense always looks so beautiful in the first quarter. You can tell that Lebron is much more relaxed and willing to move the ball to his teammates. Granted, last night might have been a special circumstance, but this is happening almost every game.
I am just frustrated because it feels like this team could still be so much better!!
back @ bridgecrosser
Thanks for the historical perspective.
I just hope one day the Q can be referred to as “the house that LeBron built” and the person who takes over for Joe Tait can ask the Knicks and other players coming there for the first time, “What’s it feel like to be at the Q? Are you shaking in your socks in awe? How would you best described the feeling of entering this glorious cradle of basketball lore?”
@ bridge – doesn’t Staples center turn down the crowd lighting during Lakers games?
I lived in CAL – Staples is cavernous….. Attended several Cavs-Clippers games the first years it opened…. it’s lower level – THREE ROWS OF LOGES – then an upper deck that is damn high… the shooter back-drop is mainly the 3 rows of loges… They may have changed things since 02 however in terms of lighting….