This James Fellow Is Good

As is fairly typical in the playoffs, the top seeded Cavs took the very best punch that the road Bulls had to offer tonight in Game Two. Chicago only turned it over 4 times against a very good defensive team, fought the Cavs to a draw on the boards, had no one in foul trouble, and even got 25 points from Joakim Noah, who averaged 10.7 per game this year. They traded the lead, were right with them down the stretch, hustled and passed and generally looked very much like the team that pushed the Celtics to the limit last year.

Unfortunately, the Cavs have LeBron James.

The best player in the world merely went for 40/8/8 last night, with 16 for 23 shooting, a steal and two blocks. With some critical support from bench player Jamario Moon (4 for 5 on three pointers) and just enough work from Antwan Jamison and Mo Williams, it was enough for a 10 point win over a Bulls team that had three starters with over 20 points.

Such is the nature of playoff hoop, where one player can just will a team to victory, provided they are ridiculously talanted and/or driven. James is, of course, both, plus on the most famous contract drive in history. TNT's Charles Barkley made the very sound point that this isn't the best way for the Cavs to beat a low seed, since it required a ton of effort and didn't do much to inspire confidence in the likes of Williams and Jamison. Me, I think a win is a win is a win in the playoffs, and that half of the time that James plays, you can get a night like this one. So how are you supposed to keep them down in Cleveland when the rest of the league is a hazmat zone from the drool of getting him for your own?