As if he needed any help, LeBron James used inspiration from a group of Toronto Raptors' fans to put on a historic performance on Sunday afternoon.
Spurred on a by a group of women sitting courtside, James scored 24 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter - a franchise record for points in a period - as the Cleveland Cavaliers posted a 93-90 victory over the Raptors.
"They're the reason the Raptors lost," James said about the two women, who were later identified as Toronto forward Chris Bosh's girlfriend and cousin. "They kind of got me ticked off."
Missing five of his first 17 shots, James started slowly, drawing the ire of the two women seated courtside. The superstar forward - with a big smile on his face - endured three periods worth of razzing from the stands. The women mocked James into lackluster play, even causing him to blow several close layups on his patented strong drives.
But James had enough at the start of the final 12 minutes. The 23-year-old superstar hit 8-of-10 shots in the fourth quarter, including four 3-pointers. The Cavaliers took their first lead, 81-80, on James' 26-footer with four minutes remaining - inspiring a wink by James directed at his detractors.
During a halt in play, he then jokingly confronted the women, pointing at them in the waning seconds and mouthing, "It's all your fault". Frankly, it was. The women had prodded the league's leading scorer into one of the franchise's great performances.
"He (James) just took the ballgame over and put us on his back," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. "What a tremendous, tremendous performance by LeBron James in the fourth quarter."
He surpassed the highest single-quarter total by a Cavalier, besting 23-point efforts by World B. Free on April 5, 1985 and Terry Furlow on December 5, 1978 - falling short of George Gervin's NBA-record 33 points in 1978.
But James didn't seem disappointed. He walked over to the heckling women and handed them the ball with 10 seconds left and the Cavaliers wrapping up their comeback win. James thanked them for their role in his latest out-of-body experience.
"I feel like I was just out there by myself," said James, who added 11 rebounds and eight assists. "The hoop felt like the ocean."
