NBA playoffs 2015: Rockets stay alive, Cavs take 3-2 lead

It used to be that when LeBron James had his headband knocked off by a distressing opponent, he would become enraged and transform into a basketball deity that opponents ultimately had to play around rather than against.

You could see the rage build up in his eyes while he’d shoot the ensuing free throws. The smile gone, the teeth clenched, the eyebrows scrunched up. Silent and focused. It was The King’s way of saying play time was over and it was now time to show mere mortals their inadequacies in the most painful ways possible.

LeBron dropped 38 points, 12 rebounds and six assists on the Bulls in Game 5, then threw a towel on as a mock turtle neck and invited Kyrie Irving to “Get your limping ass over here” so they could dance, share an elaborate handshake, and hug.

This is hilarious and awesome and I feel like a human smiling-face-with-sunglasses emoji watching it. And yet! Spend even a small amount of time on the sports Internet and you will find lots of people who hate LeBron! Why?

Here are the potential options here:

2. Chris Paul totally messed up this pass and somehow it worked out.

Great play:

Great, great, great play. Can we give the assist to Tristan Thompson’s face?

Which brings us back to Game 5. Calling it a must-win game would be lazy, but for the Cavaliers it’s also kind of true. Sure, they’ve proven they can win on Chicago’s home floor. But they also don’t want to have to in Game 6.

If that remains the case for the rest of the series Cleveland is going to be in trouble. The team is just too depleted now. The Cavaliers need James to play like the all-time great that he is. Anything less than that will like result in an early end to the team’s season.