Since their famous bowling trip, the Cleveland Cavaliers have won 20 of 24 games and are now 10.5 games back from the Hawks, the same as the Raptors and Bulls. In that span, LeBron James has averaged 27.4 points, seven assists and 6.3 rebounds per game, showing that he's still the best player in the game.
Watch LeBron James shut the door on the Raptors’ comeback
James scored 15 fourth-quarter points to hold off a Toronto rally and keep the Cavaliers in the winning path.
John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
On Wednesday, against a direct rival in Toronto, James continued to cement his MVP candidacy with a 29-point, 14-assist performance that led the Cavaliers to victory. It was overshadowed by the exploits of Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis, but it was just as impressive.
James was in distributor mode early on, as Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love handled most of the scoring burden while he tallied 11 assists in the first three quarters, slicing a Raptors' defense that couldn't contain him without wrapping him up.
The Cavaliers led by 10 going into the final period and seemed on their way to a valuable win. But when the Raptors went on an early 19-7 run spearheaded by Lou Williams and took the lead, LeBron decided it was time to switch gears. He scored 15 points and dished out three assists for three-point shots, accounting -- directly or indirectly -- for 24 of the Cavaliers' 29 points in the last eight minutes. He single-handedly changed the momentum of the game and sealed it for Cleveland with two contested threes to create separation with four minutes to go and a pretty layup to put the Cavaliers up nine with 55 second on the clock.
Not only is James back to his MVP form but the other Cleveland stars are thriving as well. Since Jan. 15, when the Cavaliers’ big three of James, Irving and Love have been on the court together, the team has outscored its opponents by a whopping 24 points per 100 possession. Irving had 26 points and eight assists on Wednesday and is averaging 23 points and 5.4 assists in that past 50 days. While Love is not putting the gaudy stats he used to have in Minnesota, he scored 22 points in 10 shots against the Raptors and has rediscovered his three-point shot, hitting 38.3 percent of his three pointers in almost six attempts a game in the past 24 games. The team everyone expected the Cavaliers to be is now a reality and James playing at a high level is a big reason why.
The East, which at one points seemed wide open for any of the five top teams, is looking increasingly as a two-team race between the rising Cavaliers and the Atlanta Hawks. If James can continue to find the balance between scorer and creator to keep everyone else happy like he did against the Raptors, Cleveland could go into the postseason as the favorite to make the NBA finals.
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