Bron, Bron, Bron. LeBron James has thumped his way through the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals as he continues to etch his name in the history books. With a 114-111 overtime win in Game 3, James passed the great Karl Malone for sixth all-time in postseason points.
Without Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, King James had 37 points, 18 rebounds, and 13 assists. Those numbers seemed to break the stat trackers as TNT added a graphic under James's postgame interview that read "first player in NBA history with such numbers." A unique stat line indeed, The King's Game 3 performance paralleled greats such as Oscar Robertson and Charles Barkley.
James, the youngest player to ever record a triple double back when he was 20 years-old in his first run with Cleveland, notched his twelfth career postseason triple double, passing Jason Kidd for second all-time. Interestingly enough, it was James's first triple-double of the 2015 NBA Playoffs. He had come extremely close on a number of occasions but, up 2-0 in the series, James took no time to reach that mark without Kyrie Irving. The King was visibly exhausted after sealing the victory in Game 3, collapsing on the Quicken Loans Arena hardwood after battling through an ankle sprain that had him limping around the court earlier in the game. James turned 30 back in December and uncertainty began to arise surrounding his health and stamina. What was once thought to be insurance, 23 year-old All-Star, Kyrie Irving, and 26 year-old forward, Kevin Love, have left James to do the dirty work as the Cavaliers grind through the Eastern Conference Playoffs.
It was a grind for the Cavs to stave off a Hawks victory in Game 3. James started the game with a historically poor shooting performance, missing his first ten shots from the floor. The Hawks clung to a lead for the majority of the first half and were able to fight back in the fourth quarter to force overtime. Shelvin Mack had two quality looks from three-point range to tie the game, but missed both. Jeff Teague also missed a shot as time expired in regulation.
Matthew Dellavedova, who filled in for Irving, played a decisive role in Game 3. Dellavedova finished with 17 points on 5-for-15 shooting, but his biggest contribution was agitating Hawks big man, Al Horford. Horford was ejected for an elbow to the neck area of Dellavedova in the second quarter. He hit the showers after scoring 14 points in 19 minutes. Horford has been dominant throughout the postseason and, had it not been for the ejection, the Hawks may have been able to pull this one out in regulation.
But that was not how it played out and it was LeBron James who maintained his place in the spotlight, giving the Cavaliers a 3-0 advantage in the series. James outshined Jeff Teague, who finished with 30 points, as well as Paul Millsap, who scored 22. Injuries and absentees have played a large role in the series and the ejection to Horford was salt in the wound for a Hawks team that was already playing without Kyle Korver, who is lost for the season.
James scored the last five points of Game 3, started by another clutch three-pointer in the corner that gave the Cavs a 112-111 lead. But while James has hit shots when it counts, his eventual game-sealing three was his only bucket from beyond the arc in the game. He is shooting just 16.1 percent from long range throughout the postseason and it took until overtime to net his sole three on his sixth shot. James made 16 of his career-high 37 shots overall in Game 3. J.R. Smith (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Iman Shumpert (15 points, 7 rebounds) have not received enough credit for their performance in the series and will be important in Game 4 and, likely, the NBA Finals as the Cavs look for the sweep on Tuesday night.