DeRozan had taken only 12 shots in the entire game.
On the Playoffs stage, which team's leader only took 12 shots?
He had gone 5-for-12 and maintained his efficiency, but without volume, what the hell was he even playing for?
Surely he wasn't expecting rookie Anunoby or second-year Siakam to carry the team to new heights?
Besides, the Cavaliers had not even played particularly well in this game. Their teammates' dreadful shooting had kept the game close until the final moments, setting up yet another iconic scene in James's career.
With eight seconds left and the score tied at 103, James received the ball in the backcourt, pushed forward alone, beat Anunoby in one step, drove into the mid-range, fired an arrow from horseback, and hit the buzzer-beater.
It had to be admitted that this year's LeBron James had truly been carrying the team forward by himself. He had played at the level of the League First small forward.
At the same time, he had elevated his teammates. The Cavaliers, who had looked somewhat shaky in the first round, had instead found their rhythm more and more in the second round.
For a while, people even wondered whether the Raptors deserved some credit for that. Were they handing out charity?
They kept helping James find his rhythm while allowing the Cavaliers' role players to adapt to this year's Playoffs environment in preparation for the Eastern Conference Finals.
After being pushed to 0-3, the Eastern Conference First Seed was effectively finished. The Cavaliers reaching the Eastern Conference Finals was practically a certainty.
That had caught most people off guard.
After all, in the first round, the Cavaliers had once lost the King Mountain game, barely clawed their way back to a Game 7 War, and only narrowly advanced to the second