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 3-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.
“It is very difficult,” James said, smiling. “Don’t try it at home.”
Kyle Lowry scored 27 for Toronto, which played much more physically and clawed back in the fourth quarter while All-Star DeMar DeRozan was on the bench. DeRozan, despondent at not being able to do more or help when it mattered most, went just 3 of 12 from the field and scored eight points.
“It was extremely hard, extremely hard,” DeRozan said of being benched by coach Dwane Casey in the fourth. “I never want to be over there watching. It definitely sucks to watch it. It was just one of those nights for me, personally. I kept thinking, as long as we win, it cures everything.”
Celtics take 3-0 series lead with OT win over 76ers
PHILADELPHIA — Al Horford had no use for the premature celebration that showered confetti all over the 76ers’ home court at the end of regulation, delaying overtime and prompting an impromptu cleanup job.
Turns out, Horford has the Celtics just a game away from a real sweep.
Horford scored the go-ahead basket for Boston late in overtime in a wild Game 3 where the Philadelphia 76ers were sloppy with the basketball and the confetti, leading the Celtics to a 101-98 victory and a 3-0 series lead on Saturday night.
“These are the kind of moments you want to be in as a basketball player,” Horford said.
He saw some wild ones down the stretch.
Marco Belinelli had hit a buzzer-beater to end the fourth quarter that sent the Sixers into a wild celebration on the court as confetti shot out of a cannon that made it rain over chunks of the arena.
Hold up.
Game 3 was only headed into OT.
“I wanted to play right away,” Horford said. “I didn’t care about the confetti.”
The tale of the (ticker) tape shows the Celtics are still the team to beat.
The Celtics, who rallied from a 22-point deficit to beat the 76ers 108-103 in Game 2, can advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight season on Monday.