The three-time champ finished with 44 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in 42 minutes.
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LeBron James drained a buzzer-beating three-pointer to lift the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 98-95 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, April 25, and within one game of advancing in the National Basketball Association playoffs. First he rejected Victor Oladipo at the rim with a block that might have been a goaltend.
The Cavs won 98-95. Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue continues to search for the right pieces to play alongside James. “We went into half up seven, and we could have built on that lead, and we didn’t do a good job of it”.
The Pacers committed only five turnovers while building a 56-49 halftime lead. In game three and game four combined, Oladipo combined to shoot 10-35 from the field and 4-16 from three.
The Cleveland Cavaliers can advance to the second round of the playoffs with a victory and get some much needed rest before playing the Wizards or Raptors. I’ll take the better team and lay the bucket. Not just to save the Cavs, but to help protect his own legacy. “But who’s to say they even run that play?”
Four of the long range misses in the first quarter were by Smith. Kyle Korver’s 3-pointers were crucial in the narrow, 104-100 victory. Paul George scored 34 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. They never took fewer than 21 in any regular-season game, and averaged 13.7 made 3s and 31 attempts in Games 1-3. Hill sat out due to a sore back and is now deemed questionable for Game 5 [VIDEO]. And the Pacers wouldn’t quit.
Cleveland has been defending Oladipo like this for each of the last three games with some subtle changes like waiting until he started his attack to double in Game 4 at times instead of bringing it whenever he had the ball in Game 3.
“Bron (James) switched on [Victor] Oladipo”. A switch had gotten Thaddeus Young, who had five fouls, to guard James, and he allowed too much cushion.
James pounded his chest. Then his teammates doused him with a bevy of icy drinks in the middle of a national television interview.
James Harden had another huge third quarter to propel the Houston Rockets to their latest win, and coach Mike D’Antoni wants to know what’s behind those scoring bursts.
But that’s a topic for another day. The game finished with a total of 204 points, which was just 2 points below the projected point total of 206 points. He was 15 of 15 from the free-throw line. Then again, the Cavs’ two wins were by a combined seven points, and outside of James (32.5 ppg this series) nearly no one is scoring. This is another if, but if he can be efficient and knock down free throws when he gets fouled, James will be nearly impossible to stop. In game 4, All Star Kevin Love, scored just 5 points in 29 minutes of action.
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The game plan clearly was for James to attack, especially when the Pacers switched bigger defenders on him.
