King James Rules: Cavs Star's 48 Lifts Cleveland to Double-OT Win, 3-2 Lead in East

Jun 01, 05:20 AM

Current Headlines: By Fran Blinebury, Houston Chronicle

Jun. 1--AUBURN HILLS, MICH. -- Rise up.

It was a marketing slogan until LeBron James took it literally and lifted himself sheer off the face of the planet.

Rise up.

If LeBron James went any higher, he'd have burst right through the ceiling of The Palace.

Rise up.

If there was another level to take his game, James could only have finished his night in the clouds. As it was, James hung up the kind of singular performance that is usually found inside a gilt-edged frame behind a velvet rope on a museum wall.

James scored 48 points Thursday night to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 109-107 double-overtime win over the Detroit Pistons and a 3-2 lead in the NBA Eastern Conference finals.

And that is just the start.

James scored Cleveland's last 25 points in the game. He scored 29 of the Cavs' last 30 points starting from the midway mark in the fourth quarter.

He pulled up and buried 3-pointers right in the teeth of the Pistons' defense. He went behind his back on the dribble and nailed 20-footers that were as sublime as they were nervy.

He was tireless and he was peerless. He was everything the hype machine had ever said he would be on an evening that caused flashbacks and drew comparisons to Michael Jordan.

James drove down the lane for tomahawk dunks that shook the backboard. And in the end, after three of his teammates had fouled out, after he had played 51 mind-boggling minutes, after there seemed to be nothing else left that he could do, James went around Chauncey Billups and scooped in a feathery layup with 2.2 seconds left to win it.

Billups' last jumper for the Pistons rimmed out.

"I told my teammates that if they could even get me close, I'd try to get them home," James said.

James hoisted his teammates onto his shoulders and lugged them over the river and through the woods with an array of skills that had more color than an artist's palette.

"I'm tired. I feel terrible right now," James said when it was over. "I'm everything. I'm banged up. I'm winded.."

Which was to be expected after he made 18 of 33 shots from the field and 10 of 14 from the free-throw line, pulled down nine rebounds and dished out seven assists.

In a razor's edge of a playoff series that has had winning margins of 3, 3, 6, 4 and 2, James was an ax that finally split the veteran Pistons like the dried-out trunk of an old oak tree.

Now the Cavs are right where they were a year ago against Detroit, losing the first two games, then winning three straight. But they lost that series in seven.

"More work to do," James said.

Detroit got 26 points from Rip Hamilton, 21 from Billups, 20 from Chris Webber,and it wasn't enough.

The Pistons built an 88-81 lead with 3:15 left in regulation time, and it wasn't enough.

James scored 11 points in the last six minutes of regulation time to bring the Cavs back. Then he scored all nine of Cleveland's points in the first overtime. Then he scored nine more in the second overtime.

"This is the single best game I've ever seen in this atmosphere," said Cavs head coach Mike Brown. "He was phenomenal tonight, and I feel bad because my words don't give it justice for what he did. He was awesome, and at 22 years old -- wow."

The Pistons were unable to stop him, unprepared for the onslaught that washed over them like a tsunami.

"We tried to get the ball out of his hands, and he pulled it back out," said Pistons coach Flip Saunders.

When Webber completed a three-point play with 1:28 left in the game, the Pistons thought they finally had separation.

But James banged in his second 3-pointer, and the Cavs defended frantically through the final minute.

Rising up.

fran.blinebury@chron.com

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