"Give me the ball and get out the way". Those are the words LeBron James uttered last night as he was forced to change the final play designed by David Blatt.
He committed a turnover with just 14.3 seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter, as he was desperately trapped at the edge of the court by Mike Dunleavy and Derrick Rose. And once the Bulls regained possession, Rose flew past the Cavaliers' defense and finished a layup to tie the game at 84.
Yet again, the Cavs' chances for a late win were put at risk.
James took the ball along the baseline with the seconds dwindling down, and lost the ball out of bounds to the flailing arms of Nikola Mirotic. But after Cleveland regained possession with 0.8 seconds to go, it was time for LeBron to alert the world that King James still doesn't go down without a fight.
He waited near the perimeter in the face of Jimmy Butler, and accelerated to the corner as Matthew Dellavedova delivered the ball from the sideline.
And with a split second to take his shot, LeBron launched off one leg over the outreached arms of Butler and put up a high arcing fadeaway, just inches inside the three point line. The buzzer sounded a few tenths of a second before the ball found it's way into the net, and the Cavaliers were rewarded with a 86-84 win.
He had a poor shooting night until that point -- going just 10-of-30 from the field -- but he made the shot that allowed his team to avoid a grueling overtime period and potential 3-1 series deficit against the Bulls.
It's not like we don't know what LeBron is capable of, though. He may not have been league MVP in two years, but he still needs to be regarded as the best player in the world. Mainly because despite his 6'8" 250 lbs frame, he can run an offense and set up his teammates as well as any athletic point guard, and then storm back down the other end of the floor to defend any position necessary.
The reason why the word "rare" is featured in the title of this article, is beacuse even though the amount of plays we can look back on over LeBron's career are seemingly endless, there haven't been quite as many stand out moments this season that have made us think to ourselves, "yes, that is why he's the best player in the world".
He's always been able to take over a game in an instant. Whether it's through a series of chase down blocks, locking down the other team's best scorer, or simply by pouring in a barrage of jumpers and highlight dunks.
Although, during his first season being reunited with the Cavaliers, those moments haven't been as frequent.
Of course, his no-look passes, occasional posterizing dunks and two triple doubles are nice reminders, but he just hasn't taken over as often as we've seen in the past. This season, he only scored more than 30 points in a game 18 times.
It's still a highly respectable amount, but seeing as he reached that total 30 times the previous season, a decrease of nearly 50 percent shows he's not exactly been destroying his opponents quite so often.
The fact he's had far more talent around him with the Cavs this year is part of the reason -- and the likes of Kyrie Irving, J.R. Smith and Kevin Love have all taken the load at times -- yet James still hasn't proclaimed his title as the NBA's best player with nearly as much emphasis. Which is why his buzzer beater to secure a 2-2 series tie with the Bulls was such a big statement.
However, LeBron has still been just as valuable to his team as ever this season. Even if the basic numbers per game aren't quite the same.
If you look at the simple statistics, then yes, James hasn't been as impressive. Primarily, it's due to his drop off in terms of efficiency, as he shot 7.9 percent worse from the floor this season than the year before (now 48.8 percent). His free throw shooting also fell to 71 percent, which is the lowest mark he's recorded in the last nine years.
That being said, if you look at his contribution to the Cavaliers overall, it's clear just how incredible he still is.
This season, through his averages of 25.3 points and 7.4 assists, LeBron accounted for 43.5 points per game (per NBA.com). When you look at the Cavs' team points per game (103.1) James was responsible for 42.2 percent of their entire offense.
So when he's doing that much, it's hardly surprising that he made a late push into the MVP conversation.
If that isn't enough to impress you, the Cavaliers' offensive rating drops from 115.5 when he's on the floor to just 103.2 when he's on the bench. And his defensive impact can't be forgotten, either. Cleveland's opponents scored an average of 4.3 less points per 100 possessions whenever James was on the floor this season. And the fact he can still cover any position and limit and scorer in the league, is still a facet of his game that warrants serious respect.
Despite the constant importance of LeBron throughout this season, though, and the immense struggles the Cavaliers faced when he was injured, Stephen Curry still deserved to be the MVP. It was rightfully his. And it's not every day that a team wins 67 games by an average margin of more than 10 points.
So, in a year that could be spoken of as a relative "down year" for LeBron (by his immense standards, of course) last night was a reminder to everyone.
It reminded us what he's still capable of and what he can step up to do when the game is on the line.
It may only be one shot, but it's the kind of exclamation mark to the Cavaliers' playoff run that can give them a much needed boost and sign of tenacity from their leader.
In a season of rebuilding and adversity, this is a statement that illustrates exactly why LeBron James is still the best in the game.