LeBron James Single-Handedly Ties Game With 6 Points In 10 Seconds, Loses On Buzzer Beater
The Cavs fell behind double-digits in the first half but slowly worked their way back into the game with some solid defense in the third quarter.
LeBron James, who made headlines on Tuesday night by purposely refusing to take shots to prove a point to his teammates, was much more assertive than he has been in recent games.
He scored 31 points on 18 shots and played 42 minutes. He even appeared to wave off Shawn Marion when he tried to sub in for him with two minutes left in the third quarter.
The Cavs looked dead with 13 seconds left, but LeBron single-handedly brought them back.
Down 98-94, he hit a ridiculous fall-away three-pointer from the corner:
Look at where he was when he hit this:
After two Jazz free throws made it 100-97 Jazz, LeBron pump-faked Derrick Favors and drew a foul. He made all three free throws to tie the game at 100-100:
But then Gordon Hayward dropped the dagger on a gorgeous step-back. Fantastic shot:
After the game, LeBron criticized teammate Tristan Thompson for not getting close enough to Hayward, saying, "Tristan laid off a little too much."
The Cavs relied on a ton of isolation plays on Wednesday night. They only had six assists as a team - which is tied for the franchise's lowest total since 1985. Without the one-on-one play of Kyrie Irving (34 points, 0 assists) and LeBron's heroics in the final minute, it would have been much worse than 102-100.