James is in beast mode. He's Denzel Washington in "Training Day": "King Kong ain't got nothing on me."
This is why I find the whole debate about "closing" laughable. I'd rather have Godzilla than a "closer." If used effectively, Godzilla makes the final minute irrelevant. Godzilla makes an ego-driven, decide-the-game referee irrelevant. Closing requires luck. The refs didn't whistle Jordan for pushing off against Byron Russell. Just the other day, a ref stole a big opportunity from Boston by calling Kevin Garnett for an illegal screen.
Give me Godzilla!
Because of his poor free-throw shooting, Shaq almost always played hot potato at the end of games. But, sweet Jesus, Shaq spit so much fire and caused so much destruction the first 46 minutes that it was relatively easy for his supporting cast to close out games.
Magic had the last-second baby hook against the Celtics, but Magic won five titles because opponents got sick of playing at his nonstop pace. Do you know how frustrating it is to break your back for 24 seconds to get a good shot and have Magic hit Worthy with a dime at the rim eight seconds later?
