It is more than just a subplot, it is downright historic. Which should be realized even if it does turn out to be the spoonful of sugar with some bitter medicine for the Cavs.

Not only is LeBron James having the best playoff series of his career against the Orlando Magic, he's having one of the best series by any player against any opponent in NBA history. His basket at the buzzer to win Game 2 qualifies, seriously, as just the cherry.

"The stuff he's doing in this series is unbelievable," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "I'm very proud of our guys to keep hanging in there with what he's doing."

That's not what you'd expect to hear from a team up, 3-1, in a series and looking for the close-out in Game 5 tonight at The Q, but Van Gundy isn't giving lip service. James' numbers are astounding, and the way he's executing has been even more eye-popping.

After four games, James is averaging 42.3 points against the Magic, the second-highest average in conference finals history behind the Lakers' Jerry West's 46.3 points in the 1964 Western Conference finals. With his 44 points in the Game 4 overtime loss Tuesday in Orlando, James smashed the record for most points scored in the first four games of a playoff series

(169).

Kobe Bryant established the record the night before.

Bryant had 147 in the first four games of the Lakers' series with Denver in the West finals.

James is doing it with remarkable efficiency. He's shooting 51 percent in the series and 52 percent overall in the postseason, 11 percent higher than last year and easily the best of his four-year playoff career. Despite having eight ugly turnovers in Game 4, his assist-to-turnover ratio for the postseason is nearly 3-to-1 and also the best rate of his career.

In addition, during this series James has increased his playoff scoring average to 29.3 points per game, which moved him past West and into third place in that category behind only Michael Jordan (33.4) and Allen Iverson (29.7).

It can be argued that two of the greatest shots in James' career have been made in this series. Of course there was last Friday when his buzzer-beating bomb from the top of the key won Game 2 and probably will become one of the most repeated sports highlights of the year.

The other - though it has the risk of being somewhat forgotten if the Cavs lose the series, not unlike James' overall individual performance - was in the final seconds of overtime Tuesday night. With 4.1 seconds left he hit a twisting 3-pointer off the dribble from the wing that kept the Cavs alive.

It was swallowed in all the other activity of the night, but many Magic and Cavs players felt that basket had a higher degree of difficulty than James' huge hoop in Game 2. Think if he'd been able to pull off another masterpiece with his 35-footer at the horn that just missed.

"I feel good," James said. "This is the best I've felt during the postseason in my NBA career."

At this point, however, James is trying to avoid moving past another iconic playoff record held by a Laker. This one is rather dubious and something the Cavs probably want nothing to do with. Only one time in playoff history has a player averaged more than 40 points in a series on a losing team.

Right now, that distinction belongs to Elgin Baylor, who averaged 40.6 points as the Lakers lost the 1962 NBA Finals to the Celtics. But it took seven games, and the Cavs have a lot of work to do to equal that.

"You know this thing is a long way from being over," Van Gundy said. "When you've got a guy as great as him on the other side, you're a long way from done."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: bwindhorst@plaind.com, 216-999-5166