It has been eight years since LeBron James had ‘that’ game against the Boston Celtics. Game 6 Eastern Conference Finals at the TD Garden, 3-2 down, LeBron’s legacy was on the line. The Heat had already lost the NBA Finals last season against the Mavericks. This time they risked going out in the Conference Finals against Boston.

LeBron later revealed the motivation behind that game. “My mentality was like, if we lose, Pat Riley may break us all up,” James said. “Win, lose, or draw, I had to be focused, I had to be locked in and lead us to victory. I didn’t know if it was going to happen that way but that was my mindset.”

The Heatles: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh had teamed up last season after the famous 2010 off-season which featured LeBron’s ‘The Decision.’ 

LeBron James: Clutch.

He started the game aggressively. Blowing past Paul Pierce, he slammed it in for his first points of the game. After that, he was locked in. Making one jumper after another, he had a mammoth first-half performance with 30 points, going 12/14. Nobody could stop his post-up fade away. In the second half, he slowed down his scoring but defended well and was grabbing rebounds.

He finished with 45 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, and was shooting a whopping 73% from the field. The Heat won 98-79, with the Celtics unable to find an answer to LeBron’s dominance. There was no smile on his face even after the final buzzer. He knew the job wasn’t done until they won Game 7.

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“He was Leonidas-like when the guys in 300 won their first battle,” said Heat assistant coach David Fizdale. Indeed, the way he led his Miami troops to victory was remarkable. James became the first player in NBA Playoff history since Wilt Chamberlain in 1964 to record at least 45 points, 15 rebounds, and five assists. This game can be ranked as one of LeBron’s best ever games.

He went on to finish the job at Miami in the next game. Playing in front of home fans at AmericanAirlines Arena, LeBron was off the court for just 28 seconds. He played 47 and a half minutes out of the total 48 minutes. He couldn’t recreate his Game 6 magic but still ended with 31 points and 12 rebounds. The Heat won 101-98 and moved on to the Finals. There they beat Oklahoma City Thunder 4-1, and LeBron won his first-ever ring after two Finals losses.