Cleveland • After making another record-setting night look routine, LeBron James baby-talked with his 3-year-old on FaceTime.
“You’re having noodles again?” James cooed into his cell phone.
Eating pasta for dinner certainly could not have been more exciting than his Monday night in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals, when he surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time postseason leader in field goals and scored 44 points on 17-of-28 shooting. But, as dads do, James raised his baritone a few octaves and talked noodles.
As James spoke with his daughter, Kyle Korver shared the secrets to how he can block the shot attempts of a player 16 years his junior while George Hill pulled on his charcoal-colored sweats because at his age, comfort reigns over everything.
These players make the Cavaliers’ locker room look like a 30-and-over club. Grown folks only, please. And against the young Celtics, Cleveland brandished experience like its best asset in the 111-102 win and tied the series at two games apiece.
Though Boston finished plus-seven in the last three quarters, the Cavaliers opened the game strong and built a 19-point lead by the second quarter. The men of a certain age are the reason the lead never crumbled.
Korver, at 37, is two years older than Cleveland’s general manager, yet he scored 14 points off the bench and blocked 21-year-old Jaylen Brown. Twice.
Then, as the Cavs stopped a Celtics’ run in the third quarter, Korver chased down a tap-back from James and dove on the floor in an effort to beat Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier.
“I was trying,” Korver said. “I’m going to be hurting tomorrow.”
Though soreness may follow, Korver earned a foul and gave the Cavaliers another possession.
“That’s a guy that’s all about winning, and whatever it takes to win. You very rarely see a 36-year-old running full speed,” said Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue before realizing his mistake.
“He’s 37 now? God dang. We’re playing him too many minutes,” Lue said, prompting laughter from reporters. “We need him, though. We need him.”
Just like the Cavaliers needed more mature moments.
Kevin Love, not quite 30 but still showing strands of salt sprinkled in his dark hair, performed an impromptu clinic on outlet passes. In the first quarter, his full-court heave to James over two defenders led to a transition bucket and graced basketball purists with one of the most beautiful plays witnessed in this series.
Hill, a recent college graduate at 32, made cunning plays throughout his 38 minutes — from strong-arming an offensive rebound away from Rozier then launching the ball off him in order to save the possession, to slyly latching onto Smart to set an extended screen that gave James an open three in the final quarter.
And of course, there was the ageless James.
In his 15th season, only James can make a 44-point night appear routine. On a nightly basis James mixes unmatched physical skill with his doctorate-level basketball I.Q.
In the opening quarter, when Celtics rookie Jayson Tatum seemingly made an impetuous move for a monster dunk, and missed, James showed composure and patience. He dribbled calmly until noticing his open lane then drove around Marcus Morris. He finished the layup, drew the foul and celebrated the five-point swing by pointing his index fingers to count the basket. One of his many highlights while passing Abdul-Jabbar.
“Listen, any time I’m in the same breath with the greats, I know you guys hear me say it over and over,” James said, “it’s just humbling.”
Cleveland started the season as the oldest team in the NBA with an average age of 30. By the trade deadline, the team made the effort to get younger and brought in 20-somethings Jordan Clarkson, Rodney Hood and Larry Nance Jr., along with Hill. Yet on Monday, the three younger players played a combined 14 minutes and spent most of the game learning from the veterans.
“It’s been cool to see these guys’ work ethic, to be honest with you,” Nance said a day before Game 4. “Not to say I’m not a hard worker or anything like that but to see Kyle Korver come in here at 15 years in the league. LeBron, 15 years in the league. Kendrick Perkins, who you know can’t jump over a phone book, come in here and work every single day on their rest and still getting better and bettering themselves as players, it’s eye-opening to see. It speaks to their level of professionalism.”
By coming to the Cavs, Hill escaped a rebuilding project in Sacramento. There, he was one of the handful of vets assigned to lead while the younger guys learned the professional ropes by losing night after night. But in Cleveland, Hill has full membership into the grown-man club.
“It takes a lot of pressure [off]. It makes you feel more at home,” said Hill, who scored six of his 13 points in the fourth quarter. “Coming here when you’re with guys who have been around for a long time and played for championships, it’s kind of your style.”
Not Hill’s style — wearing a flashy suit to home games. He lives five minutes away from the arena and wonders why should he dress up when the expensive clothes will hang in his locker stall. Besides, as a father of two young children, he doesn’t have time to get spruced up.
“My kids don’t let me do nothing at home,” said Hill, before leaving in his sweats to make that five-minute drive back to his family.
In the corner of the Cavs’ locker room, James was speaking to his screen and promising to see his family soon, too. But first, James had to please his little girl, Zhuri.
“My daughter just said: ‘Where’s Kevin Love?’ “ James called out.
Across the room, Love perked up and took the phone to speak to his teammate’s daughter. It was the only time Monday night when the old guys surrendered to youth.