Cleveland — LeBron James chose Boston as the place he’ll play next.
Game 7 is on. And any talk about James’ future is on hold.
Delivering another performance for the ages, James scored 46 points and preserved his reign atop the Eastern Conference for at least one more game as the Cleveland Cavaliers shook off losing All-Star Kevin Love with a head injury and beat the Celtics 109-99 on Friday night to force a decisive climax to this back-and-forth series.
James, playing in perhaps his final game for the Cavs in Cleveland, added 11 rebounds and nine assists while playing all but two minutes — to avoid elimination and delay any decisions about where he’ll continue his remarkable career next season.
“Greatness,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said. “Championship pedigree. Giving it his all. We needed that, especially when Kevin went down. We had to play ’Bron as many minutes as he had to. He delivered. He was up for the challenge. He carried us home as usual.”
The king is not dead, and he still has a chance to make his eighth straight NBA Finals.
“It’s a Game 7,” James said. “It’s something that you wish you had when you’re done playing, but more than that, it’s just basketball for me. I know what I’m capable of doing, and I’m going to trust everything I put into it.”
George Hill added 20 points, and Jeff Green 14 for the Cavs, who lost Love in the first quarter after he banged heads with Boston rookie Jayson Tatum.
Terry Rozier paced the Celtics — now 1-6 on the road — with 28 points, and Jaylen Brown had 27.
The Celtics were still within seven in the final three minutes before James made consecutive 3-pointers, punctuating the second by pounding his chest with both fists and screaming along with 20,562 others.
“The love of the game,” James said, explaining his reaction. “It’s a feeling you can’t explain.”
Just for good measure, he added a three-point play and then was taken out of the game to a rousing ovation and chants of “Cavs in 7!”
Boston’s improbable run through the postseason without injured stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward will now take the Celtics back home, where they play with more intensity, togetherness and before fans hungry to see an 18th title banner raised to their arena’s rafters.
“It’s not going to be pretty,” Celtics guard Marcus Smart said. “We’ve got to come out ready to get our nose bloody and our mouth bloody. We’ve got to come out ready to fight. You’ve got to find a way, whatever it takes.”
Love went out with a head injury in the first quarter, forcing Lue to juggle his rotations and keep James on the floor longer than he wanted to. The three-time champion played the first 35 minutes without a break and then endured the final eight while nursing a right leg.
The real possibility that James was playing his last game in Cleveland hung over the game — and this city — in the hours leading to tip-off. Everyone had an opinion on what James will do next and that discussion filled the sports talk radio airwaves, bars and barber shops.
The 33-year-old has said several times since coming home in 2014 that he wants to retire with the Cavaliers, but fans are uneasy because he can opt out of his $35.6 million contract this summer and test free agency.
And, of course, he left in 2010.
James has said he’ll sit down after the season ends to decide next move, and he’s already being courted in Philadelphia, Los Angeles and New York, where fans can only dream of him joining their rosters.
For now, he’s only going to Boston.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
