What a season it has been so far for the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James. After a slow start to the season and finishing as the number two seed in the Eastern conference, the Cavaliers have been perfect so far in the playoffs. They swept the Indiana Pacers in the first round, and got little resistance from the Raptors in the second round as they swept them as well. They are now playing against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern conference finals and hold a convincing 2-0 series lead.
Led by the excellence of LeBron James, the Cavaliers are looking like a team that is the favorite to win the NBA title for the second straight time.
James creates history again
After scoring 38 points in Game 1 against the Celtics, LeBron James was at the top of his game once again on Friday night in Game 2. He finished with 30 points, seven assists, four rebounds, four steals and three blocks. Impressive, to say the least. He did that in 33 minutes of playing time while shooting 12-for-18 from the field, including 4-for-6 from the three-point line. Earlier in the night, the NBA announced the three finalists for this season's MVP award - and James wasn't among them.
The list included the names of Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Kawhi Leonard. LeBron was perhaps sending a little message to everybody involved in voting, as he became the first player since Michael Jordan to score at least 30 points in eight straight playoff games.
This LeBron's streak started in Game 3 against the Indiana Pacers on the road when he scored 41 and followed that up with 33 points in Game 4. He then proceeded to torment the Toronto Raptors in the second round with 35 points in Game 1, 39 in Game 2, 35 in Game 3 and 35 points in Game 4. James has been on a tear this playoffs averaging 34.3 points throughout Cleveland's 10 games so far while shooting 57% from the field. He's doing all this in his 14th season in the league and isn't showing any signs of slowing down.
Earlier this week he was named to the All-NBA first team for the 11th straight time in his career, tying the all-time record mark set by Kobe Bryant and Karl Malone.
Cavaliers on the roll
The Cavaliers are 10-0 this postseason and have now won 13 straight playoff games including last year's NBA finals. This ties the 1988-89 Lakers' 13 straight playoff wins for the all-time NBA record. James' night on Friday was done with 1:47 left in the third quarter as he rested on the bench for the remainder of the game. It was just the second time he played fewer than 40 minutes in this year's playoffs. With 30 points on 12-for-18 shooting, LeBron tied Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time record of 10 straight playoff games with 25-plus points on 50 percent shooting.
After the game, he spoke to the media, "My only job is to try to be the MVP for this team every night and to put my teammates in position to be successful. I know what I bring to the table, this league knows what I bring to the table."