This was the Bleep You performance everyone waited for from LeBron James, the Hulk bursting out of his clothes, flexing his muscles and twisting steel in his bare hands. Out of the tunnel James marched into the Garden, and somewhere between the parquet floor and the 17 championship banners dangling in the rafters, he delivered a peerless performance that the sport hasn’t seen in nearly half a century: 45 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and a Game 7.

James had come out making one devastating shot after another in the Miami Heat’s 98-79 victory, his eyes giving nothing, his expression staid, his strength, speed and skill something straight out of the stratosphere. James wasn’t going down to these old men, the way he had gone down in those previous elimination games in his career. When James plays this way, he pushes past a generational talent that borders on the ferocity that comes with a force of nature.

“We just gave him the ball and got out the way,” Dwyane Wade said. “Locked in from the beginning of the game like I’ve never seen him before.”

via Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports