It is only through the filter of Michael Jordan, the man whose ghost still floats above everything LeBron James does both on and off the court, that LeBron's 10-point performance in the Cavs' 79-76 Game 1 loss to the Pistons can be considered a failure. It was the best of all possible scenarios for the Cavaliers last night; their defense played splendidly, they received scoring from difference guys than usual and the Pistons seemed off all game. And they still fell just short. This is a potentially ominous for this series, though, to be fair, it might have been a little different had LeBron gone to the line, say, oh, once.

It's a measure of how this odd NBA world works, however, that if Donyell Marshall hits that wide open 3-pointer in the final seconds, we're all praising LeBron's genius at making his teammates win the game for him. Because Marshall missed, there are those who criticize him for not taking the last shot himself. Such is life as a superstar; if you want us to drink your shitty sports drink, you must make your peace with it.

By the way, Arena League teams are scoring more than NBA playoff teams now.

They Had A Shot [Cleveland Plain-Dealer]
Cavs Would Make A Decent Arena League Team [Futon Report]

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