Did LeBron James play the 3 greatest games ever in 2016?
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Published 2020-10-19
Who played the best individual game in NBA history? Did LeBron James play the 3 greatest games in a row to end the 2016 NBA Finals? Here's a deep dive into LeBron's Game 5, Game 6 and Game 7 against the 73-win Golden State Warriors that drove Cleveland's 3-1 comeback.
Other great 3-game stretches from a playoff series:
-Elgin Baylor, 1961: Final 3 games of WCF averaged 41.7 ppg 17.7 rpg but didn't shoot well (49.5% TS)
-Wilt, 1967: G3-G5 ECF: 20-41-9, 20-22-10, and then 29-36-13 (54.4% TS)
-Kareem 1977, G4-G6 WCSF: 43 ppg 18.7 rpg 3 apg (65% TS)
-Bird 1986: G1-G3 Finals averaged 25.7 ppg 10.3 rpg 10.3 apg 4.0 steals 0.7 blks (55% TS)
-Magic 1987: G1-G3 Finals averaged 27.7 ppg 14 apg 8 rpb 2 steals (63% TS)
-Jordan 1991: G1-G3 Finals averaged 32.7 ppg 11.3 apg 8.0 rpg 3 stl 1 bpg (62.5% TS)
-Jordan 1993 :G3-G5 Finals averaged 46.7 ppg 8 rpg 5.7 apg (56.5% TS)
-Hakeem 1995: G1-G3 WCF: 37 ppg 11.7 rpg 4.7 apg 4.0 blocks (60% TS)
-Shaq, 2000: G1-G3 of 2000 Finals averaged 38.7 ppg 18.7 rpg 3.0 apg (64% TS)
-Duncan, 2003: G1-G3 WCF: 35.3 ppg 18.0 rpg 6.0 apg 3.3 blocks (66% TS)
-Wade, 2006: G3-G5 Finals averaged 40.3 ppg 7.7 rpg 3.0 apg 61% TS)
-Kobe 2010: G4-G6 WCF: 35 ppg 8 rpg 7 apg (64% TS)
-Also note that Jerry West in 1965 averaged 46.3 ppg in the series against the Baltimore Bullets (7 apg, 6 rpg), 55% TS
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Book: www.amazon.com/Thinking-Basketball-Ben-Taylor/dp/1…
Podcast: player.fm/series/thinking-basketball or at www.stitcher.com/podcast/ben-taylor/thinking-baske…
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Twitter: @elgee35
Ben Taylor is the author of Thinking Basketball, a Nylon Calculus contributor, creator of the Backpicks Top 40 series & host of the Thinking Basketball podcast.
Stats courtesy:
www.pbpstats.com/ @bballport
www.basketball-reference.com/
stats.nba.com/
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Footage in this video is owned by the NBA and its partners. It is intended for critique and education.
Music by AlterEgo (Lost) and Alice in Winter (Falling)
#ThinkingBasketball #LeBron James
All Comments (21)
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"His prime" - casually is 2008 to 2020 pretty normal stuff
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Playerss guarded by Lebron in the last 3 games shot 19.4% from the floor . Important note
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"In his prime" Shows a period longer than most players careers
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It's honestly sad that it's rare to find basketball analysts who are objective, don't heavily hate and heavily underestimate particular players, use a proper balance of statistics and film analysis, and don't simply use "killer instinct" and "dawg mentality" as their argument. Thank you ThinkingBasketball, every video analysis is amazing.
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Its been 4 fucking years, and everytime i hear "Iguodala to Curry, back to Iguodala..." i still get chills.
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I'll never forget those back to back 41 points games where he was literally the best in every statistical category on both sides of the court.
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“Guess he got his feelings hurt” -Klay Thompson
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Surprise thinking basketball content is a shining light in a dark world
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LeBron is one of the few hyper athletic players who still uses all of his BBall IQ to read defenses and make educated passes while being 2 steps ahead on defense
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The hug between love and lebron is legendary
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Fool averaged 36-12-9-3-3 for a whole series that’s absolutely crazy
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You know thinkingbasketball is impressed when he uses a reaction gif lol
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That game 7 is still the greatest game I have ever watched. It was so emotional. The storylines, the narrative, the build up.. even the fuckin intro was fire. Such a great series.
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Wait... All this highlights were from just 3 games?! That's insane
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Those were the 3 games that made me really believe LeBron is the Chosen One
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Being a Cleveland fan my whole life, we never really had much going for us. Browns are always garbage, the cavs never got enough talent around a young LeBron, and he leaves. During that time while he left Cleveland sports was at an all time low, at least for my lifetime. But then, the King returned, and brought Cleveland home a championship. The joy in that city and surrounding area was astounding! So happy he won another title with the Lakers, he deserves it.
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As a Warrior fan, I guess I kinda blocked these games out of my memory. Watching it back now just made me remember how incredible he was. Especially his passing. That fake corner jump-pass lob to Kevin Love at 10:50 stood out in particular
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This made me shed a tear man, the moment when you realize all your hard work has paid off 13:11
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This guy was the best scorer, playmaker, help defender, rim protector, rebounder and 1on1 defender in an NBA final, the maximum possible level of basketball. It is incredible.
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Thinking Basketball >>>> bballbreakdown
