It's starting to feel like old times for LeBron James -- not that anyone is feeling sorry for him. The man who broke Cleveland's heart and joined forces with two other top-5 picks from the 2003 NBA draft in order to ensure he would never have to be the lone wolf again ... well, that guy is suddenly doing it all himself agian. Maybe it's not quite the one-man band it used to be in Cleveland, but it sure feels that way. Not four, not three, not two, not one guy for the Heat in this year's playoffs has scored half as many points as LeBron. No, seriously, the numbers are below. And it looks a lot like how it used to look in Cleveland (sample there is from the 2009 postseason).
Now: We have a lot more faith in Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Ray Allen -- or at least one of them -- to step forward in Game 7 against Indiana tonight and push the Heat to the NBA finals than we ever did in the players James was surrounded by in Cleveland.
But this does bear watching. When the Big Three united in the summer of 2010, Wade was 28 years old. Now he's 31, and his ability to excel even while banged up is in question. Bosh has always been the third wheel. With Wade limited, Bosh has scored just 19 points combined in the last three games.
Maybe they all come through and the Heat wins by 25 tonight. Or maybe Indiana shocks the world and James is left with another familiar feeling.
