





MIAMI – Half a ring, one Eastern Conference star had snickered upon LeBron James' descent into these Miami Heat. Such staggering star power surrounding him, this Big Three promising years and years of bludgeoning basketball, the suggestion was that this unprecedented alliance could ultimately impede the planet's best player of copping complete championship credit.

Where was the easy path now? Where was the mirroring greatness of Dwyane Wade, the spectacular, sleek Chris Bosh? For the purposes of these Eastern Conference finals, there's no more Big Three. There's LeBron James and a roster of players. The Heat go as far as James brings them, and that could still be a championship.

Wade's body is battered, beaten and becoming an albatross on James' championship chase. Bosh is shrinking to the physical challenge, his might and skill failing the Heat and turning him downright useless in these Eastern Conference finals.

The Indiana Pacers were threatening to steal Game 5, threatening to push the Heat to the brink of collapse and the Big Three no longer existed as a thermonuclear threat.

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James walked out of the halftime locker room with his past and present colliding into the moment. For the mindset of a shared burden that delivered him into the arms of the Big Three, James suddenly had never been so alone as part of this starry ensemble.

To thrust himself and these Heat into tomorrow, LeBron James found himself reaching back into yesterday.

"I just went back to my Cleveland days," James said.

Back to Cleveland: More Michael, less Magic. Back to Cleveland, where the burden hung like an anvil over him. James dictated terms of engagement in the third quarter Thursday night, a magnificent, moving tribute to his historic talent. James was everywhere. James did everything. James had 16 of his 30 points, four of his eight rebounds and four of his six assists in the quarter to obliterate the Pacers.

Miami defeated Indiana 90-79, and it has to be numbing to these Pacers to understand they've largely shut down Wade and Bosh, yet still trail 3-2 in this best-of-seven series.

There was James, Udonis Haslem and a dose of Mario Chalmers for the Heat. Haslem stood on the baseline, caught the MVP's passes and dropped 16 points on the Pacers. That's all. "He's a one-trick pony," Indiana's David West said of Haslem. "But we have to take it away from him."

James makes it so easy for everyone else: Just do one thing reasonably well – shoot, rebound, defend, pass – and he'll do everything better than everyone else on the floor. This time, James scored. This time, the unselfish act was to be selfish with his shot. He was out of his mind, and it was a wonder to watch. He talked trash with Lance Stephenson and pounded his chest and dug down deep into a defensive crouch to inspire these Heat.

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