IT WAS THE LeBron James show as the three-time NBA champion singlehandedly led the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 98-95 victory over the Indiana Pacers.
James made a game-saving block on Victor Oladipo, before calling a time-out and hitting a buzzer-beater to end Indiana’s late run. It handed the Cavaliers a 3-2 series lead in the Eastern Conference.
The 33-year-old scored a game-high 44 points on 14-of-24 shooting with 10 rebounds and eight assists.
LeBron with the game-saving block and game-winning shot at the buzzer! pic.twitter.com/EAUO5AAJ3T
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) April 26, 2018
“Just trying to make these fans proud and make my team-mates proud. I was able to make another play,” James said.
Kyle Korver scored 19 points on Wednesday, and Kevin Love 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Domantas Sabonis powered the Pacers with 22 points and five rebounds from the bench. After being outscored by 15 points in the third quarter, Indiana tied the game with under 30 seconds remaining, but were unable to finish the comeback.
The Oklahoma City Thunder emerged from the jaws of defeat and elimination, pulling off a huge second-half rally to deny the Utah Jazz in game five of their Western Conference first-round playoff series.
Trailing by 15 points at half-time and 25 in the final quarter, Oklahoma City outscored Utah by 23 points in the second half to win 107-99 on Wednesday.
Reigning NBA MVP Russell Westbrook led the way with 45 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists. Paul George added 34 points and eight rebounds to help the Thunder remain in the playoffs.
Jae Crowder led the Jazz with 27 points and eight rebounds off the bench as Utah still lead the series 3-2.
James Harden and Clint Capela helped the Rockets clinch a 4-1 series win over the Minnesota Timberwolves with a 122-104 game-five win. Harden poured in 24 points with 12 assists, while Capela exploded for 26 points and 15 rebounds.
All-Star duo DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry helped the Toronto Raptors take a 3-2 series lead with a 108-98 win over the Washington Wizards.
DeRozan scored 32 points with five assists, while Lowry added 17 points and 10 assists. The game was tight all the way through, but the Raptors outscored the Wizards by nine points in the fourth quarter.
GOAT
Was a cracker but the Cavs ain’t getting past the the Raptors in the conference semis.
@Derek Durkin: everyone knows they’ll beat the Raptors they have their number the 76ers is a different story though
@Aidan Holden: The 76ers would be my pick in the East too. They have a lot of different scorers getting double digits every night plus they will have more energy than the Raptors or Cavs come finals time.
@Derek Durkin: Trust the Process