So, roll out of bed on the other side of the world, and there is the final score:

Boston 120, Cleveland 88?

Boston 120, Cleveland 88!

One of the bigger surprises in sports since I got here, in October. Absolutely did not see this coming. Even after the Celtics won Game 4 to even the series at 2-2, I figured Cleveland could hold home court, at the least, and move on.

And maybe play six games before eliminating Orlando in the conference finals, then taking care of the Lakers or Suns in the NBA Finals and LeBron James has his NBA title, and the warm and fuzzy feelings in Cleveland are so overpowering that LBJ signs up for four more seasons in The Mistake by the Lake and Cleveland wins another two or three titles in the next four years and Bron-Bron fulfills his destiny of “global icon.”

Then came that … meltdown … when LeBron was awful, shooting 3-for-14, not seeming to much care … when LeBron was booed — in Cleveland — and when LeBron and the Bronettes were pushed to the edge by a Celtics team that seems to be smarter, tougher,  more resilient. Better.

And now maybe LeBron just played his last home game in a Cavaliers uniform, and bails on the city that booed him and …

Like that. The earth just moved below the Size 17 feet of the NBA.

So, what now?

Now that we have retrieved our jaws from the floor … we are confronted by the good chance (likelihood?) of the Celtics eliminating the Cavaliers in Game 6 in Boston on Thursday.

What happens then?

The end of the NBA world as we know it.

–The Cavs fail to deliver on their great promise. Again. Losers in the 2007 finals, the 2008 conference semifinals, the 2009 conference finals … and the 2010 conference semifinals, too.  Seven seasons of LeBron, lots of highlights, zero big payoffs.

–Bigger, the two-time MVP again doesn’t make the finals. The alleged best player in the league still doesn’t have a ring — seven years into his career.

–Bigger still, LeBron James probably leaves Cleveland, signs as a free agent with somebody. Probably the New York Knicks. Maybe Miami or Chicago. The Clippers like to think they have a shot, too, which is fun for Donald Sterling to dream about. The Cavaliers implode, the Knicks become relevant again –  the Lakers, Suns or Magic win an NBA title.

This potentially was a game-changing result. Like sport-changing result.

Cleveland never wins a title. LeBron James leaves. The Cavaliers are in the 2011 lottery. The Knicks finally get their megastar. Albeit one whose ability to win the big one is, rightfully, open to question.

One theory gaining currency: LeBron James, as gifted as he is, doesn’t have the right stuff to be a champion. He doesn’t have the killer instinct of a Michael Jordan, a Larry Bird, a Kobe Bryant. His teammates don’t fear him. They don’t kill themselves trying to please him. He’s a buddy, not a taskmaster.

Kobe Bryant has been pilloried since the Shaq-Kobe contretemps for not being a good teammate. Because he doesn’t hang with his teammates. Because he glares at them when they don’t live up to his expectations. Because he pushes them.

But Kobe Bryant pretty clearly is a winner. He has hit so many clutch shots, and he has those four rings … even if he can’t power through entire teams the way LeBron James can, who has gotten things done in June?

We know for sure … LeBron James hasn’t.

The Cavs have two days to get this together. If LeBron has an elbow too sore to make jumpers, then he has to stop taking them. He needs to get to the rim, post someone up, kick the ball out to his teammates. He has to Do What It Takes, whatever it takes, to salvage this situation.

That is what champions do. And if he is not up to it, these next few weeks, then the whole NBA future changes.

Game 5 could have been a league turning point. As big as the 24-second clock. With ramifications so huge we can’t even grasp them all.

If the Cavaliers and LeBron James don’t pull this together, and pull it out, the league is going to change in ways we didn’t anticipate would happen — until 120-88 happened.