Better Block? Lebron on Splitter vs. Hibbert on Melo

Which block was better? In last night's NBA Finals game, Lebron James had a nasty block on a Tiago Splitter dunk attempt. The play can be seen below:

Parker threads the needle on a screen and roll. When I was watching the game, I immediately thought "tomahawk" when Splitter caught the ball. But out of nowhere, Lebron jumps up off of a standstill and slaps Splitter's stuff away. Just absolutely nasty. Splitter is a big guy and is pretty strong. The contact in the air generated so much force that Lebron actually spun around in the air.

But is the block better than Roy Hibbert's block on Carmelo Anthony? Let's take a look at Hibbert's impressive rejection.

Melo spins by the defender and tries to tomahawk on Hibbert. Hibbert, who was busy watching Tyson Chandler, reacts quickly and essentially jumps off of a standstill (just like Lebron) and rejects Melo's dunk attempt.

So which one is more impressive?

In my opinion, and clearly I'm a little biased because I'm a Lebron supporter, I believe that Lebron's block was the better block. Sure, Hibbert's block came at a more pivotal moment in the game. After the block, Indiana went on a run and put away the Knicks. But I tend to examine the larger picture. At that point, Indiana was still up 3-2 in the series. Also, the block occurred only in the conference semi-finals.
On the other hand, Lebron's block came when the Heat were already up 19. But in the larger overall sense, the block came at a bigger moment. The stage was the NBA Finals, the greatest stage in the NBA. The Heat were down 1-0 in the series. Sure, this wasn't a game-changing play. However, let's envision what would have happened if Lebron got dunked on. At that point, Lebron was in an offensive slump. The block helped electrify James and turn his terrible offensive performance into a decent one. If Lebron were to get dunked on, things might have gotten worse (despite the Heat probably still winning).

Additionally, let's take a physics approach towards examining this block. Hibbert is 7'2'' and Melo is 6'8'' (or 6'9'' whatever). Hibbert has potentially 6 inches on Melo! Melo is also not known to be a high flyer at all. Also, Melo still had to deal with some contact on the drive. Even though Melo beats his man, the beaten defender still puts his hand on Melo and slows him down. Splitter, however, had a clear path to the lane. No defender was slowing him down. Splitter is 6'11 and James is 6'8''. So James is actually blocking a man 3 inches taller than him! Sure, Lebron is more athletic, but we cannot just ignore his athleticism and take it for granted. It was a great play. Lastly, Splitter had way more force coming into the dunk. Splitter was already in the motion of throwing the ball down. Melo wasn't throwing the ball down yet. Melo's force was still going horizontal. That's why in my opinion, Bron's block was much better.