MIAMI — Right before tipoff of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, Miami’s LeBron James shared a laugh with soon-to-be rival Paul Pierce of the Nets.
“I looked at him and told him, ‘It’s only right. It’s only right.’ Paul is almost like a family member now at this point,” said James, noting he has played against Pierce in five of his nine consecutive postseasons. “It’s like when you go to a family reunion and you don’t ever see that cousin until the family reunion? That’s what Paul is to me.”
Well, this turned into a family feud, because James wound up treating Pierce — and all the Nets — like ugly stepchildren. James led a precision Miami offense that tortured Brooklyn, scoring at will in the paint — 52 points there to be exact — in the 107-86 Game 1 romp.
So much for rust. So much for the Nets’ 4-0 regular-season series sweep.
“The most important thing was the rhythm that we were in,” said James, who said he was not motivated by Kevin Durant being named MVP earlier in the day — just the second time in six seasons James did not get the award.
“It seemed like we didn’t take much time off at all, in terms of our rhythm,” James said. “Ten turnovers, 22 assists, that’s right in our wheelhouse, 52 points in the paint, that’s us playing basketball.”
The Nets tried everything, using five different defenders on James in the first half alone. It didn’t matter. He finished with 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting, five rebounds and three assists. He killed the Nets inside and never took a 3-pointer.
And that whole MVP thing?
“I don’t need any motivation. For me, obviously during the season we used each other for motivation, but I don’t need it that he won the MVP,” said James, who began his postgame press meeting by congratulating Durant. “He had an MVP season. I thought for me, I played well enough to win it. But I don’t think our team played well enough to win it. We had too many up-and-down stretches through the season. If my team’s not winning, then I shouldn’t be the MVP.”
The Nets would have debated that point last night.
“We have a new MVP, but when you talk about the best players in the world, he’s 1A, 1B with Durant, so when he gets in the post, he can cause a problem because of his strength and his IQ,” Nets coach Jason Kidd said of James. “We’ve just gotta make it a little tougher on him.”