4 Reasons Stephen Curry and LeBron James' Game 5 Performances Were Legendary

LeBron James: Transcending the Game

We know that LeBron James' stat line was one for the ages, so let's get a wider view of where it ranks. If we enter a benchmark of 40 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists for all playoff games since 1985 over at Basketball-Reference, we come up with 29 games with this stat line.

These 29 games have been accomplished by 15 different players and only 5 players have done it multiple times since 1985. Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal accomplished the 40, 10 and 5 feat on four different occasions but James actually appears on this list 6 times, and his Game 5 performance wasn't even the best game from him on this list.

Game 5 against the Warriors was actually his 5th-best according to their Game Score but it was the only game of the 6 that resulted in a triple-double. Charles Barkley is the only other player on this list that had a triple double.

James got to his 40 points in an odd fashion though -- his 34 field goal attempts and 8 3-point attempts fall into a tie for second. However, he rarely got to the free throw line. He only had nine attempts from charity stripe, which is a tie for the fourth-fewest free throw attempts of the 29 games.

James did show his aggressiveness on the boards though in this game -- of his 14 rebounds, 13 came on the defensive end. And while his total rebounds don't hold a candle to Shaq, he was one defensive rebound away from tying Shaq's mark on this list.