LeBron James did not let Miami’s Dwyane Wade, who scored 46 points, steal the stat line of the day.
James was unstoppable in his fifth postseason triple-double performance with 37 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists as he powered the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 121–98 blowout of the Chicago Bulls in the United Center on Sunday.
“You hate to downplay anything he does because coming up with a triple-double or an 11 for 17 from the field and attacking the way he did, and rebounding the way he did is a spectacular performance, but this is what that man is capable of doing,” Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said.
James had plenty of help from teammate Antawn Jamison, who contributed 24 points. Jamison’s performance led James to say, “I got a great group of guys that understand that it’s the most important part of the season.”
Chicago’s last lead came at 45–44 with 3:49 left in the first half. After that, it was all Cleveland and all James as he scored nine points to spark a 22–9 run to end the half.
“I thought the second half of the second quarter, the last five, six minutes, we took a couple of quick shots. They got out on the open court, put us on our heels a little bit,” Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said.
The Cavaliers led 62–52 at halftime, but it only got worse for the Bulls. The Cavs blew the game open with a 37-point third quarter that extended their lead to 23 points as they ended the quarter up 99–76.
Del Negro said, “They got that cushion at halftime so momentum is obviously a big thing, and they got the momentum going into halftime.”
Everything went right for Cleveland. James even nailed a 3-point buzzer-beating heave from just inside the midcourt line as the third quarter expired.
The Bulls could never put together a run as the Cavs continued to pull away in the fourth quarter. Although the rout was embarrassing, especially at home, star point guard Derrick Rose still managed to score 21 points, his fourth straight game scoring 20-plus points.
The loss also wasted a tremendous 21-point, 20-rebound effort from Joakim Noah.
Chicago is now down 3–1 in the series. As if the news could not get worse, only eight teams have ever crawled out of such a hole.
“I’m thinking about next game,” Rose said. “We gotta go out there and win. We have to at least give a challenge.”
The best team in the Eastern Conference will look to close out the series in Cleveland on Tuesday night with another dominating performance.
“I’m feeling pretty good because of how well we played today but we have to refocus ourselves and understand that Game 5 is going to be a huge test for us,” James said.
“Are we ready to close this team out or let them hang around? It starts with me so I know the answer to that.”
James was unstoppable in his fifth postseason triple-double performance with 37 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists as he powered the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 121–98 blowout of the Chicago Bulls in the United Center on Sunday.
“You hate to downplay anything he does because coming up with a triple-double or an 11 for 17 from the field and attacking the way he did, and rebounding the way he did is a spectacular performance, but this is what that man is capable of doing,” Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said.
James had plenty of help from teammate Antawn Jamison, who contributed 24 points. Jamison’s performance led James to say, “I got a great group of guys that understand that it’s the most important part of the season.”
Chicago’s last lead came at 45–44 with 3:49 left in the first half. After that, it was all Cleveland and all James as he scored nine points to spark a 22–9 run to end the half.
“I thought the second half of the second quarter, the last five, six minutes, we took a couple of quick shots. They got out on the open court, put us on our heels a little bit,” Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said.
The Cavaliers led 62–52 at halftime, but it only got worse for the Bulls. The Cavs blew the game open with a 37-point third quarter that extended their lead to 23 points as they ended the quarter up 99–76.
Del Negro said, “They got that cushion at halftime so momentum is obviously a big thing, and they got the momentum going into halftime.”
Everything went right for Cleveland. James even nailed a 3-point buzzer-beating heave from just inside the midcourt line as the third quarter expired.
The Bulls could never put together a run as the Cavs continued to pull away in the fourth quarter. Although the rout was embarrassing, especially at home, star point guard Derrick Rose still managed to score 21 points, his fourth straight game scoring 20-plus points.
The loss also wasted a tremendous 21-point, 20-rebound effort from Joakim Noah.
Chicago is now down 3–1 in the series. As if the news could not get worse, only eight teams have ever crawled out of such a hole.
“I’m thinking about next game,” Rose said. “We gotta go out there and win. We have to at least give a challenge.”
The best team in the Eastern Conference will look to close out the series in Cleveland on Tuesday night with another dominating performance.
“I’m feeling pretty good because of how well we played today but we have to refocus ourselves and understand that Game 5 is going to be a huge test for us,” James said.
“Are we ready to close this team out or let them hang around? It starts with me so I know the answer to that.”
