Answering the call

CLEVELAND -- Greatness promised. Greatness delivered.

When LeBron James's moment arrived, he was ready. Just like another No. 23.

Call it LeBronesque.

With a tour-de-force performance that was one of the best in NBA playoff history, James shook the Detroit Pistons in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals Thursday night, 109-107, in 50 spellbinding minutes that included two nerve-racking overtimes.

The 22-year-old superstar soared like never before. He scored 48 points -- the Cavaliers' final 25 and 29 of their last 30 -- to carry Cleveland within one win of its first trip to the NBA Finals.

At Detroit's suburban Palace, King James ruled.

"LeBron just wouldn't let us lose," Cavaliers guard Damon Jones said.

James stamped his growing reputation with all the fury of one of his thunderous slam dunks. He drove past Detroit's defenders, elevated to shoot over the Pistons, and twisted through their double and triple teams as if in a playground back home in Akron.

The 48 points were spectacular, but hardly tell the whole story. He scored them in the biggest game of his four-year career. He scored them in the most important game in the Cavaliers' 37-year history. He scored them on the road, against the Pistons, one of the league's toughest defensive teams.

And James -- who added 9 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals -- scored the 48 a little more than one week after being lambasted for his late-game decisions in Games 1 and 2, a pair of 3-point losses.

James became the first player to score 25 straight points in the postseason, an effort rivaling almost anything Michael Jordan did in the playoffs.

"He just did what he felt he needed to do for us to win," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. "I don't think he was trying to set any historical mark or anything. He just did what he felt he was supposed to do to help us win. I don't know what he can't do."

James's 48 points were the most scored against the Pistons since Nov. 23, 2001 -- a span of 590 games. It was also the highest-scoring game in Detroit by a playoff opponent since Elgin Baylor's 61 in 1961. It was the most points against the Pistons in the postseason since Dominique Wilkins got 50 in 1986 -- when James was 1 year old.

After being ridiculed for passing up the last shot in Game 1, James kept the ball in the final seconds of Game 2 but missed on a final attempt in the lane. At home for Game 3, he scored 32 points with 9 assists and 9 rebounds, making a tough jumper with 16 seconds left in the win.

James followed with a 13-point fourth quarter to win Game 4. That set stage for Game 5, when he blasted through the lane for two monster dunks in the final 31 seconds of regulation, nailed impossible 3-pointers, and scored all 18 points for Cleveland in the overtime sessions.

He capped his masterpiece by knifing through three Pistons for a layup with 2.2 seconds left.

"We threw everything we had at him," Chauncey Billups said. "We just couldn't stop him. He was hitting everything. Not the dunks and layups, that was easy. But the threes, he was shooting over double teams."

James outscored the Pistons, 25-19, in the final 12:17 despite missing three free throws . He also made a big defensive stop, picking off a pass by Tayshaun Prince with 2:13 left in the second OT and the Pistons up by 2.

"His will was amazing, on top of all the criticism he took in Games 1 and 2," said TNT's Doug Collins, who coached Jordan in Chicago. "He never whined. He never cried. All you heard him say was, 'I've got to be better. And if you get me into the fourth quarter, I'll help you win the game.' "