CLEVELAND -- Cleveland Cavaliers small forward LeBron James has spent much of the Eastern Conference Semifinals series against the Chicago Bulls talking about his efficiency, or lack thereof after committing 23 turnovers over the first four games.
However, James played his most efficient game of the postseason, without a single turnover, and led the Cavaliers to a 106-101 victory over the Bulls at Quicken Loans Arena Tuesday night, which allowed them to take a three-games-to-two lead in the best-of-seven series.
"Yay! First of all, no turnovers," James said in his press conference following the win. "That's the first stat I always look at after the game. I just try to be efficient for my teammates. That was very efficient.
"As much as I was handling the ball tonight, myself and Kyrie (Irving), to not give the opposing team another possession, an extra possession, that's a huge stat for myself. I never pat myself on the back ever, but I will now."
Despite playing on a sore left ankle after rolling it late in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals in Chicago Sunday afternoon, James played like a man that was 100 percent healthy when he took the court against the Bulls, a team he has never lost a series to in the postseason.
James led the Cavaliers with 38 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, three blocks and three steals and got plenty of help as Cleveland took their first series lead of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Bulls.
"I think our coaching staff did a great job of putting me in positions where I could be successful," James said. "I just try to read and react. I try to play my game, be aggressive, maintain and get some shots going early.
"I feel pretty good. I was able to get my jumper on and I was able to get my post-up game and my attack game going pretty early. So I just try to feed off of it, just try to feed off the rhythm that I had and stay in the rhythm as long as I could."
Despite committing early fouls, Bulls shooting guard Jimmy Butler drew the assignment of covering James for much of the night. And James welcomed the challenge by knocking down 14 of his 24 attempts from the field, which was his most efficient shooting performance of the series.
Prior to Tuesday, James' best performance came in a 106-91 Game 2 win in Cleveland, when he made 13 of his 29 attempts (44.8 percent) against Butler and the Bulls.
"I don't mind him being my shadow," James said. "I don't mind it at all. I take all competition. I love going against Jimmy. I think it brings out the best in myself. I try to reciprocate it back to him. Two fouls for Jimmy and he sits down. I felt like at the start of the game, I was in a good groove anyways.
"It didn't matter to me. Not tonight, not the way my approach to the game was, not the way I was feeling. Then, he sat down for a little bit. He still ended up coming back earlier than we probably all expected and played the whole first half and didn't get another foul to sit him back on the bench. It didn't matter."
James was not only productive on the offensive end of the floor in the Game 5 win.
He stole three passes and blocked three shots, including a chase-down block of Bulls point guard Derrick Rose with 48.8 seconds left in regulation. Had James not blocked the shot, Rose could have drawn the Bulls even with the Cavaliers at 101-101.
"With them being down two, I felt like he was going to try to take off, and he did that," James said. "(He) just tried to take off and get a bucket, and that would've allowed them to have a two-for-one. It's just not giving up on the play. I think it was Delly (Matthew Dellavedova) who did a great job just keeping his body in front of D-Rose, just not giving him an angle to the rim. Actually, once he shot it, I knew I was going to be able to get the block."
Regardless of whether it was on offense or defense, according to those closest to him, James played up to expectations in helping the Cavaliers take their first lead of the series over the Bulls.
"LeBron was just outstanding in every element of the game," Cavaliers coach DavidBlatt said. "You can't pick a thing that he didn't do at the highest level."
Center Tristan Thompson added, "It's Game 5, LeBron in The Q to go up 3-2, that's what you expect. We expect that from him. For us, we've just got to make it easier for him, set good screens, get him open and let him work."
