So what does it look like when the best player in the world hits a hot streak? Well ... On Friday night against the Clippers, it ended with LeBron James going 9-11 for 30 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds. At that point, Heat beat writer Ethan Skolnick pointed out he was 37 of his last 47 shots, better than a number of NFL kickers this year.
LeBron James is not from this planet, and numbers confirm it
LeBron James is the best player in the NBA, but what happens when he hits a hot streak? This weekend gave us an answer.
Mike Ehrmann
“He’s off the planet,” Dwyane Wade said Friday. “He’s not even the best player on the planet. He’s somewhere else right now -- the galaxy.”
Then came Sunday against the Lakers. He only shot 66% this time, going 12-18 for 32 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. It’s notable less for what he did than how routine it felt. Even as the Lakers kept things close for three quarters, LeBron bullying them into submission was pretty inevitable. This is just LeBron these days. He’s 49 of 65 in the past week, and ESPN’s Tom Haberstroh has a breakdown of the assault over here.
Haberstroh also offers these notes:
LeBron is shooting 71.4 FG% over his last five games. Michael Jordan's best FG% over five games? 69.6 FG% back in 1988.
— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) February 11, 2013
In the past two decades, only two players have shot 56+ pct from the floor on 18+ attempts per game: Shaq and LeBron.
— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) February 11, 2013
List of players who can match LeBron in assists per game and 3FG% this season: Steve Nash and Jose Calderon. That's it.
— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) February 11, 2013
Last one: LeBron is currently shooting 56 pct from the floor and 42 pct on 100+ threes. No one's ever done that.
— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) February 11, 2013
It’s out of control. When the shots are falling like this, LeBron becomes maybe the most unstoppable player we’ve ever seen. What if Shaq could shoot threes and play point guard? The answer is LeBron James, basically.
Enjoy this, because LeBron is 28 years old and just now easing into his prime and this may not be a fluke so much as a sign of what’s coming. He’s been great for the past decade, but now? “He’s somewhere else right now -- the galaxy.”
This is LeBron these days. And we’ve never seen anything like it.
