Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
LeBron comes up big on both ends
CAVALIERS 98, PACERS 95
CLEVELAND — The final five seconds of Wednesday night’s NBA playoff game at Quicken Loans Arena belonged to LeBron James.
With the score tied at 95-95, James stepped up on the defensive end and offensive end when his teammates needed him most.
And he did so in dramatic fashion.
James blocked a layup attempt by Victor Oladipo and, after a rebound by J.R. Smith and a timeout, James knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer to give the Cavs a 98-95 victory over the Indiana Pacers.
James’ heroics sent a sellout crowd of 20,562 into a frenzy as the Cavs triumphed in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference first-round series.
The Cavs took a 3-2 lead in the series and can eliminate the Pacers in Game 6 on Friday in Indianapolis.
James finished with 44 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists in 42 minutes. He made 14 of 24 shots from the field, including 1 of 4 from threepoint range, and made all 15 of his free-throw attempts.
Even with James’ usual scoring, passing, rebounding and defense in the early going, the Cavaliers found themselves behind the Pacers at halftime.
The question for the Cavs was which players were going to step up and make shots in the second half?
The answer became Jose Calderon, Kyle Korver and Kevin Love during a pivotal third-quarter scoring run.
Korver totaled 19 points
and 6 rebounds in 33 minutes, Love had 11 points and 10 rebounds in 37 minutes, and Calderon scored 6 points in 20 minutes.
Domantas Sabonis led the Pacers with 22 points and 5 rebounds in 33 minutes. Four other Pacers scored in double figures — Thaddeus Young (16 points), Lance Stephenson (12), Oladipo (12) and Bojan Bogdanovic (11).
The Pacers built a 13-9 lead with 6:44 left in the first quarter after starting 5 of 10 from the field and 2 of 3 at the freethrow line. The Cavs opened
2 of 10 from the field and 4 of 4 at the free-throw line.
The Pacers’ lead reached 25-15 with 2:28 to go in the first, but the Cavs countered with an 8-0 run that featured four layups by James to trail 25-23 at the end of the quarter.
James led all scorers in the first quarter with 14 points and at halftime with 20 points, but the Cavs trailed 56-49 at the break. The Pacers’ physicality and balanced scoring attack gave the Cavs fits as Sabonis, Oladipo, Bogdanovic, Young, Stephenson and Myles Turner each scored between five and 12 points in the first half.
The Cavs opened the third quarter on a 24-6 run and led 73-62 at 4:49. James made 5 of 5 free throws during the spurt and converted three layups. Calderon made two three-pointers during the surge, Korver buried a three-pointer and two free throws, and Love canned two free throws.
James kept attacking the basket in the third quarter, and made two free throws at 2:45 and two more free throws at 2:11 to extend the Cavs’ lead to 80-68. Stephenson nailed a 3 at the third-quarter buzzer and the Cavs led 81-73.
The Pacers refused to go quietly in the fourth as Sabonis, Young, Bogdanovic, Oladipo and company cut their deficit to single digits in the opening moments of the quarter.
INDIANA (95)
Bogdanovic 4-9 0-0 11, T.Young 8-9 0-1 16, Turner 3-4 2-2 8, Collison 1-5 2-3 4, Oladipo 2-15 7-9 12, Booker 2-3 0-0 4, Sabonis 8-12 6-8 22, Joseph 2-6 2-2 6, Stephenson 4-8 2-2 12. Totals 34-71 21-27 95. CLEVELAND (98)
Smith 0-8 0-0 0, James 14-24 15-15 44, Love 2-11 6-6 11, Calderon 2-6 0-0 6, Korver 6-11 2-2 19, Nance Jr. 2-3 1-2 5, Green 2-3 0-0 5, Hood 1-4 2-2 4, Clarkson 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 31-75 26-27 98.
Indiana ...................25 31 17 22 — 95 Cleveland................23 26 32 17 — 98 3-Point Goals—Indiana 6-20 (Bogdanovic 3-5, Stephenson 2-4, Oladipo 1-7, T.Young 0-1, Collison 0-1, Joseph 0-2), Cleveland 10-32 (Korver 5-9, Calderon 2-5, Green 1-2, Love 1-3, James 1-4, Hood 0-1, Clarkson 0-2, Smith 0-6). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Indiana 34 (Oladipo 12), Cleveland 37 (Love, James 10). Assists—Indiana 23 (Joseph 6), Cleveland 16 (James 8). Total Fouls—Indiana 22, Cleveland 21. Attendance—20,562 (20,562).