LeBron’s bank at buzzer downs Raptors for 3-0 series lead
CLEVELAND » LeBron James banked in a running one-hander at the buzzer, giving Cleveland 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 3-pointer with eight seconds left, James took the inbounds pass, dribbled the length of the floor and in one motion, dropped his 10-footer in front of Toronto’s stunned bench.
The Cavs ran and mobbed James and moments later he was back up on the scorer’s table — just like after a game-winner against Indiana last round — to celebrate a win that was up for grabs.
James finished with 38 points, Kevin Love added 21 and 16 rebounds and Kyle Korver 18 for the Cavs, who can sweep the Raptors for the second straight year.
Kyle Lowry scored 27 for Toronto, which clawed back in the fourth quarter with AllStar DeMar DeRozan on the bench.
After winning two games in Canada, Cavs came home and won a brawl with the the Raptors, who just can’t beat James. He’s 11-2 against Toronto in the past three postseasons.
The three-time champion has ended the Raptors’ past two seasons, and despite playing with a different supporting cast, James is one win from a Toronto trifecta. We The North? He The North. Game 4 is Monday night, and the odds are stacked against the rattled Raptors. Of the 129 teams in NBA history to fall behind 3-0, none has come back to win.
This was supposed to be the Raptors season, the one that ended in triumph over James. Toronto had the East’s best record, the No. 1 seed, home-court advantage and a Cleveland team that appeared very beatable.
The first half ended in frustration for the Raptors with DeRozan, coach Dwane Casey and his assistants screaming at the officials following a sequence that went against them.
Serge Ibaka’s basket was originally counted and then waved off by the referees, and the reversal was doubly painful as Love buried a 3-pointer to put the Cavs ahead by 13. Jeff Green’s layup just before the horn made it 55-40 and an incensed Casey, his suit coat flying open and his tie jumping off his chest, stormed off the floor.
Source: Spurs’ Hammon plans to interview with Bucks
MILWAUKEE » San Antonio Spurs assistant Becky Hammon plans to interview for the Milwaukee Bucks’ coaching job, a person familiar with the search told The Associated Press.
A woman has never been a head coach in the NBA. Hammon is the first full-time female assistant in the league.
Hammon just finished her fourth season as an assistant with the Spurs. She served as coach of the Spurs’ Las Vegas Summer League entry in 2015 and 2016.
Hammon retired after the 2014 WNBA season following a 16-year playing career.