"Video Game James": The TakeOver

Drew Gooden dubbed LeBron "Video Game James" after last night's ridiculously amazing performance (from LeBron) in a win over Detroit (in Detroit) to take the series lead 3 games to 2. Drew called him that because he said "those were moves I used to do with my video game. Take one guy and just let him take over the game and score all the points." Touché Drew! Touché!

So aside from "The Chosen One", "King James", "Bron-Bron", and plain ole' Lebron, Mr. James has a new nickname now, "Video Game James".

If you didn't see the game you missed what was probably the best playoff game so far this year. LeBron put on a show that the commentators were calling "one of the best performances in NBA history." Even Charles Barkley called him a "raging inferno" after the game, referring to LeBron's ridiculous play in the 4th quarter, 1st OT and 2nd OT. Here's LeBron's line from last night.

48 points
9 rebounds
7 assists (which technically means at least 14 additional points for his team)
2 steals

The guy was 1 rebound and 3 assists away from a triple-double. Not to mention he scored "his team's final 25 and 29 of its final 30." It was an amazing performance.

With all the recent talk of LeBron not showing up in the fourth quarter or whether he should have made that pass to Donovan McMarshall Donyell Marshall at the end of game 1, he showed up HUGE in the last 3 games when it mattered. I wonder if this will squelch all the talk of his 4th quarter "disappearances" or if it will just bring about more talk of how last year the Cavs were in this exact same position (one game from winning the series) and they lost the last two games of the series.

Or, perhaps this will be the coming of age that we all knew LeBron would eventually have during one of these early-career playoff runs. Keep in mind that he's only 22 years old. He's got a lot of years ahead of him to put on performances like this. Last night could have been the beginning of something really really scary for not only Detroit but for the rest of the NBA as well. The way he took over the game last night was (dare I say it) Jordan-esque. Even LeBron said in a post-game interview that he didn't know he was "that good." Well, now he knows, and the rest of the league knows as well. If this gives him the confidence to go out there and end games the way he did last night, it could mean that there are more Jordan-esque moments to come from the man who wears the same number as the greatest basketball player of all time.