Wednesday, March 22, 2006

The shot

For all of you who want to play up LeBron James' lack of Jordan-ness, he has extended you an olive branch.
With time winding down in tonight's 120-118 win against Charlotte, LeBron took matters into his own hands, faded back at 20 feet and launched a game-winning shot. And made it.
Yessir, Charles Barkley. Your eyes don't deceive you, B.J. Armstrong. A genuine dagger that slipped through the net right before the buzzer.
Nevermind that it was in overtime against a team the Cavs should have cruised past. That's a whole other story.
The point is, LeBron proved that he can do more than dish with the clock winding down. He now officially has a game-winning shot on his NBA resume.
And actually, LeBron had it both ways. With the clock winding down in regulation, LeBron found a wide-open Flip Murray with a cross-court pass. Murray drained the three to tie the game at the end of regulation, 114 all.
So LeBron dished to save regulation and shot to win the game. He had his cake and ate it, too. A finish fit for the King.
The Cavs win, combined with Chicago's loss at Indiana, drops the Cavs' magic number to clinch a playoff berth to four. Cleveland's magic number to clinch the fourth seed in the East is at 12.

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