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James piled up 46 points (17-24 FG, 2-5 3Pt, 10-13 FT), 12 rebounds, five assists and two steals across 40 minutes Wednesday as Cleveland topped Indiana in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff matchup.
After a rare first-round playoff loss James took control of the series with a dominating performance that, quite frankly, everybody should have seen coming. According to the Basketball-Reference Play Index, since the introduction of the three-point line during the 1979-80 season there have been only four instances of a player posting 45+ points, 12+ rebounds and 5+ assists in a playoff game. James accounts for three of those four instances, with Patrick Ewing laying claim to the other. Cleveland has dealt with a lot of moving parts this season but James has been the constant. If they hope to make a deep playoff run, performances like these might have to become the norm.
