Da King has returned

After a Game 4 victory for Washington, LeBron and the Cavs offense were firing on all cylinders in Game 5. Their only problem was, the Wizards were doing the same thing, making for an extremely entertaining game, and probably the second best game of the playoffs so far (following Game 4 in LA/Phoenix), as the Cavs won 121-120 in OT.

King James led the Cavs with 45 on the night to go along with 7 rebounds and 6 assists as well as the game-winner at the end of OT (more on that later). For the Wizards, it was the same old story for them, as they were led by the Big 3 - Arenas scored 44 points, Jamison had 32 points, and Butler had 20 points.

About that last play. What awful defense by the Wizards. I mean, it was a nice play by LeBron and all, but the defense was just terrible. 3.6 seconds left, Cavs down by 1, everyone and their mother knows the Cavs want to get the ball to LeBron. So what do the Wizards do? They don't switch the screen, LeBron gets it fairly easily. Ok, this is still workable. Antawn Jamison is coming, presumably to trap him in the corner and force up a difficult shot. Instead, Jamison pulled a matador (and just waved him through) and didn't cut off the baseline, allowing LeBron to get the sideline and get a relatively easy layup (although Free Darko says it wasn't an easy play, LeBron just made it look so easy. Which could be right). Goodnight, Cavs win.

The unsung hero was Flip Murray, who had 12 points, but most of them came late in the 3rd when LeBron was on the bench with 4 fouls. Cleveland actually increased their lead in that time (I think it was 6:50), and Flip had a lot to do with that. Of course, Washington's [lack of] defense was also a big help, as they gave the Cavs layup after layup.

In the end, a thrilling game and a thrilling ending. Yaysports, for their part, is trying to play it cool, but the fact is, between this series, the Phoenix/LA series, the SA/Sacramento series, and the Miami/Chicago series, the NBA is back. And with all this young talent in the league, it could become better than ever.

Game 6 is Friday night. Expect another dandy.