CHICAGO — LeBron James hit a jumper from the corner at the buzzer to give the Cleveland Cavaliers an 86-84 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday, tying the Eastern Conference semifinal series at 2-2. ADVERTISING CHICAGO — LeBron James
CHICAGO — LeBron James hit a jumper from the corner at the buzzer to give the Cleveland Cavaliers an 86-84 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday, tying the Eastern Conference semifinal series at 2-2.
James finished with 25 points to help the Cavaliers win in another wild finish, returning the favor after Chicago took Game 3 on Derrick Rose’s banked 3-pointer at the buzzer.
This time, James got whistled for an offensive foul when he elbowed Mike Dunleavy Jr. That led to a tying layup for Rose with 9.4 seconds left.
But instead of going to overtime, James ended it with the jumper from the corner over Jimmy Butler.
Game 5 is Tuesday night in Cleveland.
James committed eight turnovers and struggled again from the field, hitting 10 of 30 shots. He is 18 of 55 the past two games. But he also had 14 rebounds and eight assists.
Kyrie Irving, playing with a sore foot, was 2 of 12 and had 12 points and two assists.
Timofey Mozgov had 15 points and nine rebounds. J.R. Smith came on strong down the stretch, scoring all but two of his 13 in the fourth quarter.
Rose scored 31 points and Jimmy Butler added 19 for Chicago, which was playing without Pau Gasol. He sat out with a strained left hamstring, and his status for Game 5 is in question.
CLIPPERS 128, ROCKETS 95
LOS ANGELES — DeAndre Jordan scored 26 points, surviving Houston’s intentional-foul fest in the first half, and Los Angeles took a 3-1 series lead to put the Rockets on the brink of elimination in the Western Conference semifinals.
Jordan made 14 of 34 free throws, attempting an NBA playoff-record 28 in the first half, and had 17 rebounds. Blake Griffin added 21 points, J.J. Redick had 18 points and Chris Paul finished with 15 points and 12 assists in the Clippers’ second straight blowout win in the best-of-7 series.
They can advance to the conference finals for the first time in franchise history with a victory in Game 5 Tuesday night in Houston.
James Harden scored 21 points and Trevor Ariza added 18 for the Rockets. Dwight Howard was held to seven points and six rebounds after being in foul trouble most of a game that grinded to a halt early on when Houston started forcing Jordan to the line. Howard fouled out with 9:52 remaining and left the court.
