The Cleveland Cavaliers protected their home court in Games 3 & 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, as the series now shifts back to the TD Garden in Boston for a pivotal Game 5 on Wednesday night. In last night's Game 4, LeBron James once again led the way for the Cavs, finishing with 44 points on 17-for-28 shooting, which included his record-setting 2,357th made field goal of his postseason career.
LeBron surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most made field goals in NBA playoff history, and has now made 2,368 shots in the playoffs, 12 more than Kareem and nearly 200 more than Michael Jordan.
"To know where I come from, small city 35 miles south of here, and to hear I'm in the same category or talked about and jumping these greats in the playoffs, it's pretty cool," James said following Cleveland's 111-102 win. "You hear the scoring, the field goals made, and for a kid that really doesn't care much about scoring."
In addition to passing Kareem, LeBron's 44-point night put him in a class with Allen Iverson, Michael Jordan & Jerry West as players who have scored 40+ points in six or more games during a single playoff run. West had 8 such games in 1965 (before the 3-point line was a thing) and Jordan did it 7 times during the 1989 postseason, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
LeBron is averaging 33.7 points per game so far in the 2018 postseason, in addition to 9 assists and 8.7 rebounds. According to ESPN, the 33-year old MVP candidate ranks first in all-time playoff minutes, first in all-time playoff steals, third in all-time playoff assists, seventh in all-time playoff rebounds and is tied for 16th in all-time playoff blocks.
Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals is scheduled to tipoff tomorrow night at 8:30pm ET.