If the first fifteen games of the NBA season are an indication of anything, it could be that this is the year in which LeBron James has taken the leap to the next level.
In case anybody forgot who the defending Eastern Conference champs are just let LeBron James remind you. On Tuesday night James led the Cavs to a 109-104 overtime win against the Celtics. LeBron finished the game with 38 points and 13 assists. It was just the second loss of the season for the Celtics.
Cleveland's Boston Strangler!
The game marked the 8th straight game against Boston that LBJ topped thirty points which only trails the immortal Wilt Chamberlain's mark of 9 consecutive thirty point games against the Celtics. The two Celtic killers tied with James at 8 games are Michael Jordan and Rick Barry. Hey, at least we know there is somebody exists in America who knows how to dominate a Boston sports franchise.
LeBron's currently averaging an NBA leading 31.7 points per game to go along with more than 8 rebounds and 8 assists per game. Something tells me we won't be hearing people like ESPN's Rick Bucher and some Cleveland blogger hacks complain about LeBron having a slow start this year.
Probably the part of his game that seems the most improved is his defense. This year his steals and blocks are both up. Also, when you watch him play he seems to play the defensive end of the floor with a similar ferocity as he does with the ball in his hands. What, you need free throws too? He shot 14-for-15 at the line vs. Boston Tuesday night while leading the league in free throw attempts. Triple doubles? Pfft… please. He's leading the league with 4 already this year. What else could we need? You want fancy car? You want beautiful girl?
The Cavs are now 9-6 (tied for the Central lead) and appear to be over the fact that Anderson Varejao isn't coming back anytime soon… if ever. Let's face it, Anderson was one of the team's biggest defensive spark plugs last year and his absence had plenty to do with the team's early season defensive struggle. Now that he's demanding a trade it's now officially OK to ceremonial burn your Wild Thing whigs in effigy.
Now the team defense is finally starting to come around. The Cavs held Boston to 92 points in regulation on Tuesday. Considering that the Celtics are considered amongst the best in the NBA I'd say they'll be OK.
In the meantime, sit back and enjoy the LeBron show. He was robbed of his first MVP a couple years back by Steve Nash. This year it looks like nobody will be in his way.
Read the complete post at http://kidcleveland.blogspot.com/2007/11/lebron-simply-will-not-be-stopped.html