JAMES, KING OF THE RING
CLEVELAND – The moment required brilliance. LeBron James delivered again. James banked in a running one-hander at the buzzer, giving the Cleveland Cavaliers a 105-103 win over Toronto on Saturday night in Game 3 and shoving the Raptors to the edge of their most devastating playoff exit. After the Raptors tied it on rookie OG Anunoby’s three-pointer with eight seconds left, James took the inbounds pass, dribbled the length of the court and rose off the floor on the left side of the basket just feet from Toronto’s bench. Glass. Bucket. Bedlam. “Tie game, down one,” James said. “I live for those moments.” As the noise level in Quicken Loans Arena rose to jet-engine levels, the Cavs sprinted from the other end of the court and mobbed James. After some tight hugs, he was back atop the scorer’s table – just like he did after a last-second 3-pointer to win Game 5 against Indiana – and celebrated a win that was up for grabs. “I’ve been doing that since I was like six, seven, eight years old,” James said. “Maybe even before that. There’s a picture floating around of me beside a Little Tikes hoop with a saggy Pamper on and I was doing it back then and all the way up until now, at 33. “Things that you dream about, that you get those opportunities and I’ve been fortunate enough to get a handful of those in some of the biggest moments in my career.” James finished with 38 points, Kevin Love added 21 and 16 rebounds and Kyle Korver scored 18 for the Cavs, who have won nine straight postseason games over the Raptors and may sweep them for the second straight year. The difference in the two teams is simple: One has James, the other doesn’t. “I ran out of words a while ago,” said Korver, struggling to describe James’ latest heroics. “I’ve seen him shoot that shot, that game-winner, countless times when he’s messing around in shootaround and practice. It’s always like, why would he shoot a shot like that – to win a playoff game? “Unbelievable play. He did it again. He’s been so huge in those moments for us all year.” It was the fifth career postseason buzzer-beater for James, the second of these playoffs, and this one had maybe the highest degree of difficulty of them all.