3 votes – Lebron James. It wasn’t his most efficient game and he’s had better numbers, but James truly dominated this one on both ends of the court. He was aggressive offensively and didn’t settle for too many long jump shots (only took 1 three). Sure he made a costly turnover at the end of regulation but he made up for it in OT with the game-sealing shot. And then there was his defense. A couple of huge blocks and a lot of terrific D on Rose. Lebron ended this game by diving on the floor to keep a loose ball in play and I thought that epitomized his night. He hustled and did the little things, and on a night where Wade struggled and Bosh expectedly couldn’t re-perform his Game 3 brilliance, Lebron was simply inspirational. As I said at the start of the playoffs, Lebron James might be playing the best ball of his entire career right now. So is Dirk. It’s going to be a killer Finals.

2 votes – Mike Miller. Whoa, did not see this one coming. Miller played his best game of the playoffs and his best quarter of the playoffs in the fourth. His 9 points in the fourth were huge, and heart-breaking for the Bulls. Watching this one, you kinda sensed the Bulls had the Heat figured out in that fourth quarter. Neither Lebron or Wade (or Bosh) could get it going, and every time Miami cut it to 2, the Bulls always had an answer. I just expected that to carry to the end – you just can’t afford to lose to Miami when the Big 3 are struggling like that late in the game. And then Mike Miller comes along and starts nailing shots and drives out of his ass. Unexpected. But of course, that is exactly the type of performance that championship winning teams get from their role players. It only needs to happen once or twice in a series. It happened tonight thanks to Mr Miller.

1 vote – Dwyane Wade. Yeah he couldn’t buy a bucket but I loved Wade’s energy tonight. You could tell he wanted it really bad, and for the most part that manifested itself on the defensive end. His 2 steals and 3 blocks don’t even tell the full story. He was everywhere and the more his shot suffered, the more he buckled down at the other end. It’s worth pointing out that Wade has been fairly ordinary this series. Lebron has been the best player, by far, and Rose and Bosh have had bigger games than Dwyane. It’s been fascinating to watch because he is the heart and soul of this Miami team. He is their leader, yet he’s shown absolutely no reluctance in letting Lebron and Bosh have the limelight. It just shows me that this team is ready to do whatever it takes, and ego is an absolute non-factor. Make no mistake about it, we are ending up with the two best teams in the league in these 2011 Finals.

I have a few things to say about Derrick Rose but I’ll save them for another time. For now, just enjoy his dunk from this game that I can’t stop watching. The slow-mo is a thing of beauty.

1. Dream Teams: Part II
2. The Man Wade, the Knick Lebron and the Smooth Obama
3. Sunday Six Pack: Brandon Jennings. That is all.
4. Confessions of a Box Score Watcher
5. Day 9: Making a mountain out of a George Hill

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