Hoops Habit
Fansided

Ranking the top 5 NBA Finals games in LeBron James’s career

By Matthew Way

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 11: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts after winning the 2020 NBA Championship over the Miami Heat in Game Six of the 2020 NBA Finals at AdventHealth Arena at the ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on October 11, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 11: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts after winning the 2020 NBA Championship over the Miami Heat in Game Six of the 2020 NBA Finals at AdventHealth Arena at the ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on October 11, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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LeBron James
LeBron James (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

5. 2016 NBA Finals, Game 5

Down 3-1 to the greatest regular season of all-time, another LeBron James loss in the Finals looked inevitable. But the King from Akron had other plans.

Facing elimination at Oracle Arena, LeBron scored 41 points on 30 shots, grabbed 16 rebounds, dished out 7 assists, and only committed two turnovers. In the decisive third quarter, he scored 11 of his 41 to build a lead that the Cleveland Cavaliers would never relinquish. Kyrie Irving matched LeBron’s 41 points but they got little help from anyone else, making the double-digit win in Golden State more impressive.

On the other end of the floor, we got to see a preview of what was to come from King James when he covered a ton of ground in the second quarter for a chase-down block, this time on Stephen Curry:

The important context of this game is that Draymond Green was on the bench all night as a result of a suspension. That knocks this individual performance down a peg or so on this list, but it doesn’t eliminate the brilliance of the accomplishment. LeBron’s overall performance in a must-win game in a hostile environment was still one for the history books.