CLEVELAND, (Reuters) – LeBron James made a buzzer-beating three-pointer as time expired to rescue the Cleveland Cavaliers in a thrilling 96-95 win over the Orlando Magic on Friday.
With one second remaining and his team down two points, James caught an inbounds pass and drilled a 25-footer over the flailing arms of Hedo Turkoglu to tie up the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Final series at 1-1.
“We just couldn’t afford to go down 0-2 in this series going back to Orlando,” James, who shot a game high 35 points, told reporters.
“Rashard (Lewis) hit a game-winner in Game One and I matched him with one in Game Two. It was a great shot. Wow.”
Turkoglu had put the Magic up 95-93 when he hit a pull-up jump shot with a second left that appeared to give Orlando the shock victory before James’s late intervention.
“(James) was trying to go to the lob, I jumped in front and he stepped back and hit a great shot man,” said Turkoglu, who finished with 21 points.
“You can’t do nothing about that. This one really hurts — you think you have the game turned around and he hits a shot.”
For the second consecutive game, Cleveland lost a big lead and Orlando made a heart-breaking shot down the stretch but this time the Cavaliers got the final say.
Lewis, who made the game-winner with 14.7 seconds left in Game One, had 23 points for the Magic, who came back from a 23-point deficit midway through the second quarter.
Orlando pulled to within 12 points at the half and six heading into the final quarter, where they made a 9-0 run to tie the game at 82-82 with 6:54 remaining.
The Magic will try to regroup for Game Three on Sunday in Orlando.
“It’s crushing enough to lose, but when you feel like you’re the guy who could have done something about it, it is even harder,” said Magic coach Stan Van Gundy. “I should have defended (the final play) differently.”
Mo Williams had 19 points for the Cavaliers despite 7-for-21 shooting, while Delonte West and Zydrunas Ilgauskas grabbed 12 points apiece.
After James scored a career playoff-high 49 points in the Game One loss, Cleveland got a more balanced effort on Friday but it was still the league’s MVP who carried the day.
