The great ones are often defined by how they stand up in the face of adversity. With his team on the verge of blowing a 22-point lead, LeBron James made all the big plays in crunch time to lead his Cavaliers to an 88-72 Game 6 victory over the Nets at East Rutherford.

After a huge opening quarter in which he scored 14 points to help spark his team to a 17-point cushion, James was blanketed for two straight quarters and saddled with foul trouble when he picked up No.4 by knocking down Mikki Moore on a screen.

With James on the bench with over four minutes left in the third quarter, Jason Kidd elevated his play significantly by scoring about half his 19 in a dominant 12 minutes which saw his team outscore the Cavs 22-8 to slice the deficit down to one. That included a 14-2 run to end the quarter with the Nets’ zone giving Cleveland fits.

The good news for Mike Brown’s team was that he was able to reinsert his star player at the start of the fourth. With his team still clinging to a one-point lead with less than 10:00 left, the unselfish James took over by distributing the ball to wide open teammates.

First, he drove the lane and found rookie Daniel Gibson on the right wing for a wide open three to go up four. On their next possession, this time he setup birthday boy Donyell Marshall for one of his game high six treys to suddenly put them back up seven forcing the Nets to call for time. The ex-Uconn star celebrated his 34th birthday did it in style by knocking down 6-of-10 three’s to rebound from an awful 0-for-7 Game 5 performance and help get Cleveland to its first Eastern Conference Final in 15 years. All series, he had struggled to find his shot. In this one, he played a huge role in eliminating the Nets.

James would also make his first basket since the first quarter and then later find Marshall in the corner again for another uncontested trifecta which put them up nine. They would never look back in outscoring the Nets 27-12 to pull away for the convincing 16-point win to setup a rematch of last year’s EC Semis against Detroit- a series they lost in seven after leading 3-2.

While it’s true Marshall came off the bench for 18 and five rebounds in 18 big minutes, the Cavaliers wouldn’t have won without LeBron on the floor during that critical stretch which put the game away. Sure, you could argue he didn’t do much for two quarters after an inspiring start in which he and Drew Gooden (8-for-11 FG, 16 pts, 7 rebounds) took apart the Nets early on to build their big lead against a surprisingly sluggish Nets squad.

When your team struggles as badly as the Cavs did without James in that third quarter, it looked eerily similar to Game 5. Aside from LeBron, only Gooden and Marshall were in double figures meaning Zydrunas Ilgauskas (6 pts) wasn’t a factor and Larry Hughes (1 field goal) again struggled.

You take James off the floor and there just isn’t much creativity. He’s one of those versatile stars who doesn’t have to score every possession to help his team win, proving that tonight by adding eight rebounds and eight assists to go with his team best 23 in 38 minutes. He makes everyone better by creating space due to doubleteams. Someone has to be open. In the final quarter, both Gibson (scored all eight including two from downtown) and Marshall were.

That’s all it took because Kidd and the Nets’ fuel tank finall ran on empty after expending so much energy to get back in the game. In the end, Kidd and Co. might’ve fallen short, but once again the 34 year-old point guard was inspirational even in defeat- pacing the team in points (19) rebounds (12) and assists (8) after an inauspicious start.

There have been lots of great guards but few have been better than the former California star who once helped upset Duke in the NCAA’s over a decade ago. I believe he finished the series by averaging a triple double. How many guards do as much as this guy? He frequently led his team in rebounds and of course distributed the ball like few others and scored when called upon. Whether it was a timely three from the perimeter or a scintillating drive to the basket resulting in a great finish, this guy did it all. He tried to will his team to victory tonight when they looked dead.

From the time he found Bostjan Nachbar for a three at the buzzer to give the Nets life down 15 at the half to all the driving lay-ups and aggressive defense, Kidd gave everything he had leaving it all out on the court. Unfortunately, a three from the right wing which would’ve given them the lead fell way short foreshadowing the end for New Jersey.

You could only ask your best player to do so much. Especially when dog Vince Carter mailed it in with only 11 on a lackluster 4-of-11 missing both three’s and turning it over five times. When Moore (14 and 7) contributes more than what’s supposed to be your superstar finisher, you aren’t going to win. The other problem for the Nets was that after a hot start, Richard Jefferson cooled off to finish with 16 on 7-of-16 shooting. At least he tried.

What’s Carter’s excuse? They should’ve dealt him when they had the chance. Would you bring him back after his mindboggling performances? He’s a great talent and when motivated, is one of the best players in the game. That’s the problem. Carter is now 30 and will probably lose a step. Not get better. He’s never been a clutch playoff performer.

The Nets should go in a different direction. Even if they brought him back, maybe do a sign-and-trade. Kidd still has something left and can help prepare Marcus Williams for the starting role when they relocate to Brooklyn in two years. Jefferson is a very versatile player who does many things well. They’ll get Nenad Krstic back next year too.

Meanwhile, for James and the Cavs, this was a statement win and one the superstar recognized:

“It’s a great feeling. This is one of the best feelings I’ve ever had as a basketball player.”
Now LeBron and Co. will get the chance to play in the Conference Finals against battle tested Detroit. We’ll see how they fare.