The Cleveland Cavaliers are headed to their third straight NBA Finals appearance. The reigning NBA champions defeated the Boston Celtics in their Eastern Conference Finals series 4-1, as they took a 135-102 victory on Thursday night. It was a blowout victory for the Cavs in Game 5 that was never in question, but something else that happened in this game made it even more special. LeBron James came into Thursday's matchup needing 28 points to surpass Michael Jordan as the all-time postseason scoring leader. The way James has been performing in this year's playoffs, it was only a matter of time.
LeBron has been efficient during this postseason, averaging 32.5 points on 56% shooting. His performances have been nothing short of spectacular as he is looking to win his fourth NBA title this year.
The King breaks the record
With 2:43 left in the third quarter of Thursday's Game 5 against the Celtics, James received the ball on the left wing and rose for a three-pointer. It went in, and with that basket he surpassed Michael Jordan on the all-time playoff scoring list. James finished the game with 35 points on 13-for-18 shooting and also added eight rebounds and eight assists. He now stands alone at the top of the all-time postseason scoring list with 5,995 points and with lots of playoff basketball in front of him.
Jordan's record stood for a long time, 20 years to be exact. His last playoff point was a memorable one, a game-winning shot against the Utah Jazz in 1996 NBA finals. Jordan is now number two on the all-time list with 5,987 points. He did it in 179 playoff games with averages of 33.4 points per game and 48.7% shooting.
By comparison, James has played 211 postseason games so far in his career and he's averaging 28.2 points per game while shooting 48.2% from the field.
The King has never been considered a scorer in his career and the fact that it took him 32 more games to surpass Jordan speaks for itself. His accomplishments are impressive nonetheless as he continues to build his legacy in the NBA.
'I wanted to be Mike'
After an emotional game on Thursday, James spoke to the media following his team's and his personal success, "For my name to come up in the discussion with the greatest basketball player of all-time, it's like, 'Wow!' I wanted to be Mike, so for my name to come up in any discussion with Michael Jordan or Kareem, it's a wow factor."
He then added that he wears the number 23 because of Michael Jordan and that he fell in love with the game because of him.
It is a truly amazing accomplishment for LeBron James as he now looks to shift his focus to the matchup against the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. This will be James' seventh straight trip to the NBA Finals and he is now the only player in NBA history to reach the Finals four times with two different teams.
Greatest of all time? You decide.
