SteemSports Presenter:
SteemSports Editor:
What do you do when you've had enough of someone's bullying? You can be quiet and keep letting it happen. Or, you push back with all the ferocity of that pent-up rage that's built up from each blow after blow over the years.
The Celtics Big 3 of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett defeated Lebron when he was with the Cavs in two series bubbling with animosity (2008 and 2010 playoffs). The Heat beat them in the previous year, 2011, but that victory seemed null and void since Lebron disappeared against the Dallas Mavericks in the Finals. Everything was on the line for Lebron's Miami Heat in Game 6 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics. The stage was set in the Boston Garden. Was Lebron just going to fall over and fulfill the choke narrative everyone branded him with?
Lebron leads by encouragement and through building his teammates up. Because of his gregarious nature, people thought he lacked the killer instinct of venomous assassins like Kobe and Michael. On this night we got a glimpse of that venom that he kept away, and many thought he never had. None of that killer instinct chatter mattered when tipoff came. In that moment, the Celtics symbolized every hateful thing ever said about him. He tuned everything out and set out on a mission to rip out the throats of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen and show them to the Boston crowd covered in blood.
You could see from one of the opening possessions that Lebron didn't show up to lose. He drove straight down the middle past Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett for an authoritative, right-handed slam. He bruised his way straight to the rim for a lot of his initial points. He was a 6'8 250-pound freight train in transition opportunities who was so much faster than anyone the Celtics could throw at him, it was glaringly obvious. A mid-range jumper here and an and-1 there, before you knew it he had 30 POINTS IN THE FIRST HALF on 12/14 shooting. The most serious 30 he ever scored. No smiles or cheers, only a game face and laser focus. The job wasn't done yet.
The second half yielded 15 points for Lebron, bringing his stat line to 45 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 assists. When he scored his final bucket the Heat were up by 25 with seven whole minutes to go in the game. This game was a wrap. You know the Celtics were all cocky after they gutted out a 94-90 victory in Miami in Game 5. All they had to do was win this on their home court and they were back in the Finals. Lebron said oh you think you're just going to win? I'm going to kill every hope you have of going back to the Finals in the immediate future. And I'm going to beat you so bad that Ray Allen's going to join my team next year and win me another championship. And what do you know! He murdered the Big Three era in Boston. Check out evidence taken from the crime scene here
This was one of the last major hurdles Lebron had to jump before he gained the championship respect that he lacked for so long. He defeated the OKC Thunder in 5 games the next series to win his first championship (and he's lucky they didn't stay together to challenge him in the future). Multiple NBA Champions have emerged since this fateful game, but Lebron has been in the Finals to contend for every one of them since 2011 with the Heat.
This year looks like the biggest longshot for Lebron to make back. He's been blessed with a traditionally weaker Eastern Conference compared to the West over the years. You really never know with him though. Maybe he can put Kevin Love and his team of role players on his back and squeak by the Eastern Conference again for another shot. Even though you may not want him to succeed, he's really the most entertaining thing the East has to offer. For our own sake, let's hope he makes it back to give the fans and haters some amazing performances to remember.
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