Yeah, so the sick thing is just because I had to mention it. I’ve been more or less dying at home for three days straight now. Sure, <a href=”http://forzamotorsport.net/” target=”_blank”>Forza 2</a> was released this week, but I’m totally not taking advantage of it, and that sucks. Water, vitamins, Advil, and sleep. Yay!<br/><br/>Anyway, last night around 10pm I turned on the TV. I knew <a href=”http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270531008″ target=”_blank”>Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals</a> between the <a href=”http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/ecf_splash.html” target=”_blank”>Detroit Pistons</a> and the <a href=”http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/” target=”_blank”>Cleveland Cavaliers</a> was on so I popped on over to that channel (in HD, of course). As was typical in this series, it was a close game so I had to watch. Up and down, up and down… Multiple times it looked like Detroit had it in the bag only to have Cleveland tie it back up. With a couple minutes left, <a href=”http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime-070601″ target=”_blank”>the silliness</a> began. Closing out regulation, <a href=”http://www.lebronjames.com/” target=”_blank”>LeBron James</a> simply took over. His teammates brought the ball down the court, passed to him, and he’d (about five times in a row) slash through the Pistons, down the lane, and dunk it or get fouled. He did it with ease… Against the Pistons… Probably the best defense in the league. Everybody knew he was going to do it, but there was nothing they could do to stop him.<br/><br/>I don’t remember the exact timing of everything, but over the course of two overtimes, if Cleveland went down three, LeBron would dribble around, pick up a double or triple team, and fire off an incredibly low percentage shot from downtown… Only, it wasn’t low percentage for him. Need a three? Hit a three. Need two? Drive the lane, faeaway jumper, whatever.<br/><br/>Having grown up seeing the spectacular playoff performances of <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jordan” target=”_blank”>Michael Jordan</a>, and <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggie_Miller” target=”_blank”>Reggie Miller</a>, I am fully qualified to say that this ranks right up there with them, if not above them. For the final eight minutes of regulation and through two overtimes, the man controlled the game.<br/><br/>How much did he control the game? Well, he scored 29 of the Cavaliers final 30 points (all the way back to ~8 minutes left in the 4th) and their final 25… AND WON! That is ridiculous. He single-handedly defeated the Detroit Pistons… That is ridiculous. Final stats? 48 points, nine boards, seven assists, and a 54.5% field goal percentage… That is also ridiculous. I actually feel sorry for the Pistons. They played a great game, they played great defense, but no matter what they threw at LeBron, he would make it happen… It was ridiculous.<br/><br/>I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, at the age of 22, LeBron James is easily the most talented basketball player in the NBA.<br/><br/><span style=”font-weight: bold;”>More<br/><span style=”font-weight: bold;”></span></span><a href=”http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2007/news/story?page=Roundup-LeBron&amp;campaign=rss&amp;source=ESPNHeadlines” target=”_blank”>ESPN Expert Roundup</a>