LeBron James had one of the more bizarre, impressive, and exhausting stat lines you’ll ever see in his team’s 114-111 win on Sunday night: 37 points, 18 rebounds, 13 assists on 14-37 shooting (a career high in shot attempts).
LeBron started the game 0-10, yet still had a triple-double before the third quarter ended. That line is a perfect summation of Game 3 as a whole: just flat out weird, with some wonderful moments and not so wonderful moments. One of those wonderful moments was this three pointer from James, which effectively sealed the Atlanta Hawks’ fate and pushed them to the edge of elimination.
Tristan Thompson, who caused problem for the Hawks all night on the glass, got the offensive board and found LeBron in the left corner. Up to this point, LeBron had been putrid from beyond the arc in the playoffs. Paul Millsap comes flying out to LeBron – perhaps too eagerly – and jumps right at him, sliding to the right at the last moment. LeBron, perfectly patient, waits for Millsap to fly by and launches the three. It wasn’t LeBron’s most impressive bucket of the night – this huge slam certainly owns that distinction – but it was by far the most important, giving the Cavaliers a one-point lead with 36 seconds left that they’d never relinquish.
The Hawks and the Cavaliers each had chances to put the game away in regulation and overtime, and Jeff Teague’s late-game heroics even culminated in a huge triple that put the Hawks up two with under a minute remaining in the extra session. But it was James and the Cavaliers who simply made more plays down the stretch, taking a wild game that both teams so desperately wanted to win.
Now, after a season of incredible turmoil, the Cavaliers are one victory away from the NBA finals, while the Hawks, after a historic season, are one loss away from the end.
Game 4 is Tuesday night.
(RealGM)
