Cavaliers: Win over Raptors reminded us this is LeBron James’ best year yet

He’s not having his best season statistically. This year, however, has still been LeBron James’ most impressive.

LeBron James‘ performance against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night was nothing short of spectacular. He scored 35 points, dishing out 17 assists while avoiding a single turnover. He torched Toronto with timely buckets and titillating touch passes.

James assisted on 11 of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 3-pointers. Pick your eyes of the ground because that’s a real statistic.

LeBron played the entire game like he was “on fire” in NBA Jam. Yet, his performance didn’t feel out of the ordinary. James has been doing this all year. This just happened to come on national television against the best team in his conference.

It’s lofty to claim this is LeBron’s best season. I mean it’s LeBron James; the four-time MVP winner and an undoubtedly top-five basketball player of all time.

Plus, the numbers don’t entirely back it up. His offensive rating this season doesn’t crack his career top five and his defensive rating is nearly a career low. His win shares per 48 minutes have been higher, as has his Value Over Replacement Player numbers.

On the other hand, as ESPN‘s SportsCenter noted on Thursday, James is scoring or assisting on 49.9 percent of the Cavaliers’ points, a career best. So every other Cavaliers bucket touched LeBron James’ fingertips seconds before going through the hoop.

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Hardwood Houdini

SportsCenter also noted James is averaging a triple-double over 25 straight games. The only other players to do so are Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook.

Finally, his Lance Armstrong-like endurance is probably surprising even to himself. The last time James played 80 games he was going through his quarter-life crisis. The 33-year-old is on track to play 82 for the first time in his career.

You can toss numbers around until the sun rises. They will never tell you the real story of James’ incredible year.

The win against the Raptors was a microcosm of his season. The Cavs were without four rotation players due to injury, plus Kyle Korver due to a family emergency and head coach Tyronn Lue due to health issues. Considering the Cavs’ fortunes, nobody would’ve been surprised if the ball boy broke his back and the entire dance team came down with dysentery.

Playing with spunk, Cleveland and LeBron erased a double-digit deficit to beat the Raptors despite the heavy odds against them. It’s par for a season plagued with injuries, roster moves and drama. As he has been the case all year, James shoveled through the muck with another incredible performance.

In February, he kept the team unified during a slew of changes. James didn’t pout after losing his safety blanket, Dwyane Wade, or a slew of veterans brought in to spur one more Cavaliers title run. He didn’t make excuses after Kevin Love went down to injury during the same two-week stretch of the changes.

He praised the new additions, and backed up his words with elevated performances leading to a season-saving winning streak. This tweet To Nick Foles — “embrace the struggle” — probably personifies his mindset at the time.

Like every year, James has been met with challenges unique to himself. There are few athletes who would draw the ire of a political pundit.

FOX News‘ Laura Ingraham chided James for his political activism, infamously telling him to “shut up and dribble” in a diatribe riddled with inaccuracies. LeBron’s cool response stymied any controversy. In a video that didn’t go viral enough, he gifted a young fan a sleeve in appreciation for his pro-free speech sign.

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There’s also been the constant chatter of James’ potential departure from Cleveland. Rumors like these often derail an athlete’s focus. As we saw in 2010, Cleveland doesn’t take kindly to stars uprooting. James, however, handles any sort of speculation with poise.

If it’s not his value to Cleveland, his endurance, his leadership through controversy and his composure under outside pressure reminds us again and again of his incredible skill.

He’s littered the highlight reels with some of the most impressive plays of his career. A nominee for LeBron’s most jaw-dropping maneuver of the 2017-18 season must be when he dribbled behind his back, and between the legs of teammate Tristan Thompson.

Maybe it was an accident, but that doesn’t mean it’s not one of the greatest NBA dribble maneuvers in recent memory.

How about this nasty dunk on Jusuf Nurkic?

That’s a 33-year-old putting a seven-footer on a poster.

If anything these highlights remind us of LeBron’s supreme athleticism, even after he is allegedly out of his physical prime.

Speaking of prime, LeBron’s best years statistically were probably during his run with Miami. We covered that already.

When you factor in all the variables, however, this has been LeBron’s best overall year. From his great leadership to incredible play, we are seeing the full scale of James’ evolution.

He could not have weathered this many storms in his 20s, or even a few years ago. Pundits have never questioned James’ talent, but his mental fortitude has always drawn skepticism. Not anymore.

Next: 2017-18 Week 23 NBA Power Rankings

That’s why James is sculpting a masterpiece of a season. His best yet.