James Feeling Same Frustration As Jordan Did

CLEVELAND - LeBron James scored 44 points in last night's crucial Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

His team still lost, 116-114 in OT and now trails the Orlando Magic 3-1 in their best-of-7 series.

This playoff series has been a stunning wake-up call to anyone who hastily awarded the Cleveland Cavaliers their 1st ever NBA championship after they dispatched their first two postseason opponents. It has also been a series that has proven the Magic to be a highly underrated team with a super dominant star player in Dwight Howard.

James has been stupendous this entire series, but his teammates have largely disappeared. Even when they perform well, they still vanish in crunch time. Last night, Mo Williams had an active and much needed 18 points through three quarters, but was a no-show in the fourth quarter and overtime.

LeBron scored a playoff career high 49 points in Cleveland's stunning Game 1 loss, then hit for a smooth 35 in their narrow 96-95 Game 2 win. That was the game in which James miraculously drilled a fadeaway 3-pointer at the buzzer after catching an inbounds pass with just one second left. He was unstoppable in Orlando as well, scoring 41 in that Game 3 defeat. For the series, LeBron is averaging an alien-like 42.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists, numbers that are so overwhelmingly epic that he should be forced to take a DNA test to see exactly what he's made of.

Barring a major miracle, the Cavs will lose this series. They would need to win three straight games over the Magic to advance to the NBA Finals, something that only about 4% of teams in this same hole has ever done in league history. With such scintillating excellence, James has to be majorly frustrated. His boyhood hero, basketball icon Michael Jordan endured similar set-backs during the early part of his storybook career.

Jordan led his Chicago Bulls to a shocking upset of the Cavs in 1989 when he hit "The Shot," a legendary jumper at the buzzer to send Cleveland to a series defeat. The Cavs were expected to sweep Chicago, and were superior to them all season, especially talent-wise. That seminal moment in MJ's career sparked the upstart Bulls and they blew past New York in six games to face the rowdy but great Bad Boy Detroit Pistons in the East Finals. 

On the strength of Jordan's remarkable Game 3, in which he scored 46 points and hit the game winner, the Bulls held an unlikely 2-1 lead. That's when the Pistons locked in on MJ and won the next three straight to oust Chicago in six games. The Bulls weren't expected to make it past the first round that season, but they came within two victories of the '89 NBA Finals, which was frustrating to the hyper competitive Jordan.

The following season ended in much the same way for Jordan as he dominated on offense and defense but his teammates disappeared at key times. Chicago took the defending champion Pistons to 7 games, but were shellacked in Game 7. MJ was bottled up by three defenders at all times, but still managed 31 points. Detroit won in a rout, 93-74.

That's how Jordan's 1989-90 season ended. A Game 7 loss on the road after an outstanding 55-27 season. Jordan averaged 36.7 points in 16 playoff games. James is at 36.0 in 12 games so far. Of course, the biggest difference between Jordan's Bulls then and James' Cavs now is the expectations factor. The 1990 Bulls were never considered true contenders, not with Detroit having beat them in both the 1988 and 1989 playoffs, and having a better team and sophisticated defensive scheme against Jordan. This year's Cavs rolled to a league-best 66-16 record and the number one overall seed.

They were one of the favorites.

Bottom line, LeBron is traveling a road that even the great Jordan struggled with. It should give him optimism for the future, but it won't dull his anguish in the present. He's going through all this at 24. MJ was 27 in 1990 when he limped off the court and cried in the post game locker room. For the rest of the decade, he led the Bulls to a whopping six NBA championships.

Greatness takes time. Championships take patience.