The shot. . .
Last weekend, the Cleveland Cavaliers found themselves in a must-win situation, down 2-1 to the Indiana Pacers on the road. Well, LeBron James led his team to major victory, evening the series for a pivotal game 5 on Wednesday night. With more rest given throughout the week, James and the Cavs battled Indy in another down-to-the-wire fight – literally.
Throughout the game, Cleveland’s entire defensive scheme was to double Victor Oladipo at the top of the key and make sure he didn’t have any isolation against weaker defenders. Luckily for them, Pacers coach, Nate McMillan failed to make proper adjustments. This enabled Cleveland to go on a run in the third quarter, which would last until mid-way through the fourth quarter.
On the final Pacers possession of the game, Oladipo got past LeBron for a lay-up attempt. However, the King recovered and made the biggest play of the night, a block on Victory, which video evidence revealed was actually a goal tend (see: 2016 NBA Finals with Andre Iguodala).
Following the possession, Indy would plead their case, before Cleveland quickly drew a play and caught their opponents sleeping on defense. LeBron closed out the game with an epic buzzer-beater, giving Cleveland a comfortable 3-2 series lead. It’s unclear how the Pacers will respond to this loss; but the Cavs have heavy momentum heading into game 6 in Indy on Friday.
FINAL: CLE 98 | IND 95