LeBron James and Dwyane Wade must take over or find themselves watching the NBA Finals from home./AP

60.

That’s the magic number.

With Chris Bosh out with an abdominal injury that will take 2 1/2 to 6 1/2 weeks to heal depending on who you believe, the Miami Heat need their two superstars – LeBron James and Dwyane Wade – to average at least 60 points in order for the Heat to get past the Indiana Pacers and win it all.

Right now, James and Wade are averaging a combined 46.6 points in this Eastern Conference semifinals series that the Heat are trailing 2-1 heading into Sunday’s Game 4 in Indianapolis.

James is at 27.3 a game. Wade 19.3.

That’s not enough.

In desperate times, the superstars get it done.

Ten years ago, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant showed us all how.

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Just came across Charles Barkley welcoming Shaquille O’Neal to TNT to work with Ernie Johnson, Kenny “The Jet” Smith and Chris Webber.

Still gonna need to clear some space on the desk for the Diesel, but Barkley basically told O’Neal he can’t upset Johnson, who is the host of the show.

“Second thing, pretty much nothing after that matters,” Barkley said. “Ernie is the man.”

With that being, we don’t want to see Barkley and O’Neal do this again. For those two to be athletes, they’ll never be mistaken for Muhammad Ali.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will likely draft Duke freshman Kyrie Irving in Thursday’s NBA Draft. ESPN is reporting that the Cavs are committed to doing so.

I understand the reasoning.

It’s a PG league.

Point guards are needed because a lot of the better teams have quality ones. Chicago has 2010-11 NBA MVP Derrick Rose. Oklahoma City has Russell Westbrook. Memphis has Mike Conley. Boston has Rajon Rondo. New Orleans has Chris Paul.

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Sometimes you need the entire team to guard Kobe Bryant.

In the aftermath of the report of Kobe Bryant saying he’d beat LeBron James in a game of 1-on-1, I figured I’d begin my NBA greatest of the greats list naming the 10 best 1-on-1 players in NBA history.

The video you’ll see by clicking on the link above dates his comments back to May 2, 2010 in London. So this is old news, but let’s get back to the list. I’m going to go from 10 to 1.

Just so it’s known right now, these 10 guys didn’t make the final cut: James, Dwyane Wade, George Gervin, Paul Pierce, Dominique Wilkins, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.

Had to cut somewhere.

Before revealing the list, I ask that you voice your opinions on the list by leaving comments. Tell me I suck. Tell me I hit the money. Tell me I look sharp of silly in my blog photo. Let’s get some chatter chatter going here.

Here we go.

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LeBron James may have played his final game for the Cleveland Cavaliers in Thursday's Game 6 loss in Boston.

It’s over.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are done for this season and if LeBron James decides to bounce and join another game, they will be done for much longer.

Just for the record, as much as I thought Cleveland had the team to win it all this season, I predicted before the season began it wouldn’t even make it to the NBA Finals.

Who did I pick: The Los Angeles Lakers to win back-to-back and beat the Orlando Magic again. They’re both still alive. Who would have thunk it?

As for the Cavaliers, they won 60-plus games in consecutive regular seasons, James won back-to-back NBA MVPs and didn’t make to the finals last season or this season.

Something is wrong with that picture?

Who is to blame?

Well, let’s start at the top. Or near the top.

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Was this LeBron James' last game Tuesday night in Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena wearing a Cavalier uniform?

  The two-time MVP’s body language wasn’t good.

  And since LeBron James is their leader, the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers were just as lifeless.

  Now they’re a loss away from seeing championship aspirations expire after losing Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, 120-88, to the Boston Celtics at Quicken Loans Arena.

  If the Celtics close out the Cavaliers in Thursday’s Game 6 in Boston, the sellout crowd of 20,562 may have watched James play his last game for Cleveland in Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday night.

   They didn’t see his best effort.

   In fact, it may have been the worst playoff performance of his splendid 7-year NBA career.

    James had just 15 points, shooting a woeful 3-of-14 from the field. He only attempted four shots in the first half, missed them all and the electric energy that typically radiates off him was barely pulsating.

   By the fourth quarter when James missed a free throw with 10:31 in the game, sprinkle of boos came from the stands.

   James wasn’t the only who didn’t bring it Tuesday night.

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He goes the last three playoff games without playing.

Now Cleveland coach Mike Brown goes to Zydrunas Ilgauskas ith 3:41 left in the first quarter.

Wow. And Ilgauskas hits first shot. That’s the side note.

Here’s the mainbar.

LeBron James hasn’t scored, has four assists, three rebounds and has taken only two shots. As for Rajon Rondo. His line is worse: 0 points, 1 rebounds, 0 assists for the Boston Celtics.

As for Shaquille O’Neal, he has seven points. The Cavs went to him early and he’s 3-for-3 from the line.

His elbow may be hurting, but it didn’t stop LeBron James from scoring 35 points Saturday night in leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 101-93 win past the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at Quicken Loans Arena.

That’s a nice way to go into receiving the MVP award later today at the University of Akron. James won’t need help hoisting the trophy, but he got some much needed help Saturday night.

Mo Williams dropped in 20 points that included a one-handed flush on Paul Pierce to turn the game around. The Cavaliers were down 11 before Williams dunked on Pierce and they wound up taking a 79-78 lead at the end of third quarter.

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That right elbow of LeBron James in the white sleeve there is the talk of this series.

(1) Cleveland Cavaliers (4-1) vs. (4) Boston Celtics (4-1)

Series schedule: Game 1 – Today at Cleveland 8 p.m. ET (TNT); Game 2 – Monday at Cleveland 7 p.m. ET (TNT); Game 3 – Friday at Boston 2 p.m. ET (ESPN); Game 4 –Sunday 5/9 at Boston 3:30 p.m. (ABC); Game 5 – Tuesday 5/11 *at Cleveland TBD (TNT); Game 6 – Thursday 5/13 *at Boston TBD (ESPN); Game 7 – Sunday 5/16 3:30 p.m. *at Cleveland (ABC). *If necessary.

Series keys: For Cleveland: Stop Rajon Rondo from penetrating (When he does, Boston’s offense opens up to the fullest). 2. Establish inside presence (Make Kendrick Perkins and Kevin Garnett work defensively). 3. Speed up the pace (Test the older legs of the Celtics by scoring in transition). For Boston: 1. Test LeBron James early (If his elbow is good, find out early by going to the rim on him and guarding him tough). 2. Pick and pop (Put Shaquille O’Neal in situations where he has to stop Garnett or Rasheed Wallace from hitting jumpers. 3. Defy age (Many say the Celtics are too old. Prove them wrong.).

Series outcome: Cavaliers will win the series in six games, but if Boston splits the first two, it’s going seven.

Series stories

1. LeBron creating elbow room – Boston Globe
2. Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James’ ‘elbow‘ is talking on Twitter – Cleveland Plain Dealer
3. Cavaliers, Celtics just don’t like each other – Toronto Star

On the wait to play in the playoffs: “It’s seemed pretty long, but it’s here now. I’m excited. It’s the best time of the year for basketball in this league. It’s an exciting time for myself and our team. … This is what I’ve waited for. I’ve been quoted the last few days. It’s what we play for in the regular season to prepare for this moment. It’s here.”

On finally having a full team: “It’s been a while. We’ve haven’t a full team for a while, honestly. Guys have been in and out of the line ups. Big players have been in and out of the lineup. So it’s great to finally have everybody healthy. This is the right time to have everybody healthy in the playoffs.”

On how Shaquille O’Neal looks basketball-wise: “He’s looked good. We’ve had a few practices and he’s got an opportunity to practice the last week. He looks pretty good an he’s ready to go.”

On expecting Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose to raise their level of play: “I expect everyone to raise the game. It’s the postseason. As far as raise their game, I don’t quite understand the question you’re asking, but it’s the postseason. They have no choice but to raise their game.”

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