{"id":64973,"date":"2018-05-07T07:20:09","date_gmt":"2018-05-07T07:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=64973"},"modified":"2018-05-07T07:20:09","modified_gmt":"2018-05-07T07:20:09","slug":"inside-lebron-james-epic-game-winning-shot-in-game-3-vs-the-raptors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/sports\/inside-lebron-james-epic-game-winning-shot-in-game-3-vs-the-raptors.html","title":{"rendered":"Inside LeBron James’ epic game-winning shot in Game 3 vs. the Raptors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Inside LeBron James’ epic game-winning shot in Game 3 vs. the Raptors<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

LeBron James\u2019 epic game-winning shot began with Cleveland coach Ty Lue\u2019s decision to take the ball out of bounds under the basket after a timeout instead of halfcourt with eight seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJust wanted to get more space. If we took it from the side, (Toronto) would take it away and condense the floor,\u201d Lue explained.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lue wanted the ball in James\u2019 hands putting pressure on the Raptors\u2019 defense at full speed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Great call.<\/span><\/p>\n

James added another iconic moment to his remarkable playoff run this season, taking the ball the length of the court with Toronto\u2019s O.G. Anunoby hounding him. James banked in a one-handed, body-twisting floater from 10 feet as he drifted away from the basket.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ball went through the net \u2013 his 37th and 38th points \u2013 as time expired, giving the Cavs a 105-103 victory and a 3-0 series lead over the Raptors.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you come to find out as his teammate and playing with him is that he practices those shots all the time and makes them all the time,\u201d Kevin Love said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Cavs have run that play before and work on it in practice. Most times, when a team calls a timeout in that situation \u2013 after the Raptors\u2019 Anunoby made a three-pointers to tie the score at 103 \u2013 it takes the ball out of halfcourt to give it more time to run a play.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nBut with eight seconds left, the Cavs didn\u2019t want Toronto to shrink the halfcourt and make it easier for Toronto to defend a play.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cT. Lue was the one who told us, \u2018Let\u2019s take it full court,\u2019 knowing I had more than enough time to get the ball up the court,” James said, “and by us doing that, it doesn\u2019t allow the defense to kind of sit and see what you\u2019re going to do because you\u2019re going at such a fast pace.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The Raptors didn\u2019t want the ball in James\u2019 hands. Anunoby and Pascal Siakam tried to prevent Love from inbounding it to James, and when James caught the ball, Siakam peeled off to cover Love.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal in the timeout was to trap him and make someone else beat us,\u201d Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. \u201cHe split the trap and went 100 miles an hour down the floor and lost them. We just didn\u2019t execute. It was probably my fault that I didn\u2019t make it clear that we wanted to trap him and get the ball out of his hands. We had it started in the backcourt, and for whatever reason, we let him out of the trap.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As James crossed halfcourt and dribbled toward the three-point line on the left side of the floor, Kyle Korver was in the left corner, George Hill and J.R. Smith were in the right corner and Love was above the three-point line at the top of key. The paint area was wide open.<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s an option on the play for Korver or another Cavs player to set a screen for James, but Korver said, \u201cI felt like there wasn\u2019t enough time so I didn\u2019t want to junk up the play.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Why didn\u2019t the Raptors double-team James after they failed to trap him and force the ball out of his hands?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey can\u2019t really double-team because one shot can lose you the game, and you give up a wide-open look, most likely you\u2019re not going to like the results of that,\u201d James explained with his coach\u2019s hat on. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to double in that case with a tie game.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, there\u2019s the shot itself, his second buzzer-beater of the playoffs. It\u2019s an incredibly difficult shot to make in practice with nothing at stake let alone a playoff game. James called it his \u201cability to have different things in my toolbox.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI practice pretty much every shot I take in a game and no matter if it\u2019s the first quarter or a game-winner, I feel pretty comfortable,\u201d James said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Said Korver: \u201cIn the moment, that\u2019s a tough shot, but I\u2019ve watched him shoot that shot countless times in shootaround and practice, just messing around, shooting off the wrong leg. I\u2019m like, \u2018When would you shoot a shot like that?\u2019 Apparently to win a playoff game. Amazing shot.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Said Love: \u201cYou just see him do it every single day, so to answer your question, you almost do expect it to go in, and he\u2019s been so great in this run and so great in all of our playoff runs, that it\u2019s just special.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Toronto\u2019s Serge Ibaka put his hands on his head after James\u2019 shot. Jonas Valanciunas turned around in disappointment. C.J. Miles slumped his shoulders.<\/span><\/p>\n

How could that happen? The Raptors fought back from a 17-point deficit to tie the game. They were in stunned disbelief. Yet, they\u2019ve seen so much of James, they could believe it, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nba\/2018\/05\/06\/lebron-james-iconic-game-winning-shot-cavaliers-raptors-game-3\/584519002\/<\/span><\/p>\n

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