Written by Rohan Nadkarni at SI.com
For a stretch of the second quarter during the Cavaliers’ 114–91 blowout of the Boston Celtics on Wednesday, LeBron James entered a plane of sheer dominance that quickly reminded everyone even remotely associated with basketball who the best player in the world is. James simply had his way with Boston defenders, bullying smaller players on the block and relentlessly attacking the rim for easy buckets, all while playing free safety on defense and wreaking havoc on an Isaiah Thomas-less lineup. It was a stark reminder that Boston has no answer for the man who controls the Eastern Conference.
Of course, the same could be said of every team in the league when James decides to play on God Mode. Boston allegedly had a chance to acquire Paul George or Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline, and you have to wonder if on Wednesday the Celtics slightly regretted not pulling the trigger on such a move, particularly after George’s performance against James earlier this week. The Celtics are still a very talented team seemingly on a collision course to face the Cavs in the conference finals, but they blew a golden opportunity Wednesday night.
For all of James’s posturing about the regular season leading into this game, he certainly played with a playoff-level intensity against Boston. The matchup carried huge significance in the race for the No. 1 seed in the East, and Cleveland is now in the driver’s seat after earning the tiebreaker with the win. The Celtics were primed to play spoiler, playing on their home floor against a Cavaliers team playing their third game in four nights as well as on the second night of a back-to-back. None of those factors mattered when LeBron decided to take over.
James was helped by a hot start from Kevin Love, as well as timely contributions from Cleveland’s role players. Channing Frye should particularly be commended for filling in for Tristan Thompson, who missed his first game in over five years.
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