James returns favor with Game 4 walk-off
LeBron James hit a 22-foot jumper at the buzzer to give Cleveland an 86-84 victory over the Bulls on Sunday afternoon at the United Center. The second-round playoff series is tied 2-2.
During a crazy final 30 seconds, Jimmy Butler hit a step-back 3-pointer to bring the Bulls within 2 points with 27 seconds left. James was called for an offensive foul for elbowing Mike Dunleavy while trying to get loose out of a trap.
Derrick Rose then tied the score with a driving lay in over James with 8.4 seconds on the clock.
The Cavs were out of timeouts, so James brought the ball upcourt and had a pass deflected out of bounds by Nikola Mirotic with 0.8 seconds on the clock. The referees decided to review the play and put 1.5 seconds on the clock, which was necessary for James to get the final shot off in time.
The Bulls played without center Pau Gasol, who has a left hamstring strain. His availability for Tuesday's Game 5 in unknown.
This game was practically gift-wrapped for the Bulls to take a 3-1 series lead. Cavs point guard Kyrie Irving was limping around on a sore right foot and hit just 2-of-11 shots. James played as if he was exhausted, hitting 9 of 29 shots for 23 points before the game-winner.
Rose led the Bulls with 31 points, while Butler had 19 and Joakim Noah grabbed 15 rebounds.
But the Bulls just struggled to make open shots. Mirotic was 1-for-9 from the field, Dunleavy 1-for-7.
The first sign of trouble came in the second quarter when the Bulls went scoreless for nearly seven minutes while Cleveland used a 16-0 run to go from 8 points down to 8 ahead.
The Cavs stuck to their two big man lineup longer than usual in this series and with Gasol in street clothes, the Bulls struggled to finish shots around the basket.
The Bulls seemed to get their act together in the third quarter when they outscored Cleveland 23-12 to take a 7-point lead into the fourth quarter. But while the Bulls struggled to score, the Cavs found a hot hand in J.R. Smith, who knocked down 3 straight 3-point baskets.
The Bulls fell behind 80-73 with 4:43 left after 4 straight points by Cavs center Timofey Mozgov. Rose brought the margin down to 82-79 with a 3-pointer and 2 free throws, then missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the score with 1:01 left.
James turned his left ankle in the third quarter while getting called for a charge against Rose. James stayed on the ground holding his leg for about two minutes, but stayed in the game after a timeout.
In the fourth quarter, Taj Gibson left the game, grabbing at his left knee after pulling down an offensive rebound.
Check back for more on this game from Mike McGraw.