Hardwood Paroxysm: The greatest things we’ve ever seen on a basketball court

The greatest thing I ever saw in person was LeBron James, Game 6 in Boston, 2012

By Evans Clinchy (@evansclinchy)

I remember walking into the TD Garden for Game 6 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals feeling pretty good. The Celtics had a 3-2 series lead over the Miami Heat, meaning they stood one win away from their third Finals appearance in five years. All they needed was one more strong performance, at home, to punch their tickets.

What they got instead was the most thorough domination they’d ever seen, at the hands of one LeBron Raymone James.

LeBron was electrifying in that Game 6 in Boston. One of the best games of his life. Hell, one of the best games of anyone’s life. He scored 45 points on just 26 shots; he poured in 32 in the first half, a perfectly symmetrical 16 in the first quarter and 16 in the second. He added 15 rebounds and five assists. He was physical, he was efficient, he was in complete control. He watched the fourth quarter from the bench, blowout win already in hand.

I pinpoint that night — June 7, 2012 — as the night the “LeBron James isn’t clutch” myth took its last gasping breath. From that night on, there was no doubting him anymore. He owned the Celtics, he owned that series and for the years that followed, he owned the league. That was the turning point.

LeBron went on to dominate Game 7 of that series as well (31 points and 12 boards) en route to the Finals, where the Heat beat the Thunder in five and the King finally had his first ring. But that Game 6 — that’s the memory that sticks with me. That’s the night everything changed.