LeBron James scored 48 points topace Cleveland Cavaliers past
Detroit Pistons 109-107 in double overtime on Thursday in Game 5 of
their Eastern Conference of the National Basketball
Association.
With the away win, the Cavaliers took a 3-2 lead in the
best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals with Game Six on Saturday
at Cleveland.
"I'm definitely exhausted but I'm going to take the whole day
off tomorrow," James said. "This was a great performance by our
whole team."
It was a one-man effort. When it mattered most, James took on
the entire Detroit team by himself, scoring 29 of Cleveland's final
30 points in the last 16 minutes.
James played 50 minutes and 17 seconds, hit 18 of 33 shots from
the field and 10 of 14 free throws, passed out seven assists and
grabbed nine rebounds.
He took the Cavaliers onto his shoulders for the last time in
the final seconds after a 3-point play by Chris Webber gave the
Pistons a 107-104 lead.
James responded with a 3-pointer to equalize, then drove to the
basket and banked in a layup to give the Cavaliers their final
victory margin.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 16 points and Daniel Gibson added 11
for the Cavaliers.
Richard Hamilton led Detroit with 26 points while Chauncey
Billups added 21 and Webber scored 20.
In the first overtime, James sank an off-balance jumper as the
shot clock expired to give Cleveland a 100-96 lead, but Billups
sank two free throws with 3.1 seconds remaining to send the game to
a second overtime.
James scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, including all five
Cleveland baskets in the quarter.
A James slam dunk in the final seconds gave Cleveland an 89-88
lead, but Chauncey Billups answered with a 3-pointer to put Detroit
back in front.
Then James responded by driving to the basket for another jam
with 9.5 seconds remaining to level the score and the game went to
overtime when Billups missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
(Xinhua News Agency June 1, 2007)