Recap: Cavs 140, Wizards 135 (Or, HOLY CRAP)

Overview: WHAT THE WHAT. SERIOUSLY, WHAT THE WHAT. The Cleveland Cavaliers won a 140-135 overtime game against the Washington Wizards. LeBron tied the game with an off-balance, banked-in 3 off a full-court inbounds pass with .3 seconds remaining on the clock, and fouled out early in the overtime period. Kyrie Irving, who struggled throughout regulation, scored 11 points in overtime, including a 3 with 35 seconds remaining to give the Cavaliers a lead they took to the end of the game. Kevin Love added 39 points and 12 rebounds on 11-17 shooting from the field and 11-11 shooting from the line, and LeBron James scored 32 points on 12-18 shooting while setting a career high in assists with 17. Hell, Tristan Thompson had a season-high 22 points. This game was bananas.

The Breakdown:

In a game like this, it’s the moments you remember before anything else. With less than five minutes remaining in regulation, LeBron drilled three 3-pointers in a row before dishing to Korver and Love for two three-pointers of their own to give the Cavs a four-point lead with 1:15 to go.

A bit later, LeBron missed a pass to Tristan Thompson to go for the layup himself and got it erased by Gortat, which led to Bradley Beal pulling up for a line-drive 3 to tie the game with 43 seconds left. With 25 seconds left, LeBron made the pass to Thompson, who got fouled and split the pair to put the Cavs up one.

Then John Wall missed a layup, and with Thompson and Love going for the block and LeBron not quite boxing out, Markieff Morris was able to lay in the put-back to put the Wizards up one with 12 seconds left. Then, with three seconds left, LeBron James took a step, euro-stepped, took another tiny step, and had a wide-open lefty layup — which he shanked. (If you’d asked me at the end of regulation if I would have preferred a layup made because of a botched call for the win or a legit miracle three for the tie, I would have gone with the layup. Every time.)

After Wall made his free throws, the Cavs had no timeouts, meaning they needed a miracle heave down the court and a miracle trey. Witness:

I’ma be honest: I wasn’t even cheering. I wasn’t hyped. I was just stunned. It hadn’t sunk in that he actually made that shot. I just blinked a few times.

Then, early in overtime, LeBron fouled out for the fifth time IN HIS DANG CAREER, and the first time since he returned to Cleveland.

Fortunately, Kyrie and Kevin Love were there to pick up the slack. Kyrie swished some jumpers, including one where he tried and failed to draw the foul. Love got himself to the line, and found Korver for a clutch three to tie it with 2:14 left. Finally, Kyrie put the cherry on the sundae by drilling a 3 from the same spot where he hit the Finals-winning shot, and after Bradley Beal finally missed a three, it was all over. What a game. Just, what a game.

Player Breakdowns:

— LeBron James: good at basketball. He picked apart the Wizards with his passing, hitting Tristan Thompson or another teammate inside when Washington left room in the pick-and-roll lanes or kicking it to a shooter when they packed the paint, and he finished with a career-high 17 assists. He also took the driving lanes when they were there, and absolutely punished Washington with the threes, going 6-8 on the night, including four in the fourth quarter and one that will go down as one of the best shots of the year and best moments of LeBron’s regular-season career.

Nitpicking out of love: LeBron went 2-5 from the line. In a game that came down to the wire — twice — that’s just not acceptable. I cannot shake this fear that LeBron is going to go something like 6-11 from the line in a back-breaking playoff game that comes down to the final possession.

Also, the turnovers were still present, and I’d like to see LeBron tighten up his handle a bit more. When he was younger, he was so fast and so comfortable driving left that he could shake anybody with a bread-and-butter crossover going left or right, but as he’s aging he’s trying to add more change-of-pace and advanced moves, like the behind-the-back dribble, and they’re just a bit loose. Get those gloves and ankle weights on, LeBron. But mostly, FREE THROWS. GO INTO THE DRAGON BALL Z CHAMBER THAT LETS YOU TRAIN FOR A YEAR IN A DAY AND LEARN FREE THROWS. YOU CAN’T SHOOT THEM WITH THAT FOOT ALIGNMENT BRINGING THE BALL UP FROM YOUR LEFT HIP. I PERSONALLY DON’T HAVE ACCESS TO A DRAGON BALL Z CHAMBER OR HAVE PROOF OF ITS EXISTENCE BUT I DON’T KNOW BEYONCE.

— Kevin Love: Yeah, doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere. 6-10 from deep, 5-7 from inside the paint on layups and post-ups alike, and he has that knack for finding his way to the line that must be deeply annoying for opposing fans but is very enjoyable to me — that man can work a referee. (He actually went too far with it once on Monday when he pump-faked his defender into the air, had an open layup, and shuffled under him to try and get the and-1 but ended up with a deserved travel, but it’s okay.) Throw in three assists, three steals, and some good switches onto the Wizards guards in overtime (seriously, a lot of Game 7 flashbacks in this one), and that’s a dude I don’t want to see go anywhere for a long time.

— Kyrie Irving: If the Cavs had lost in regulation, it would’ve been on him. Wasn’t looking to get guys involved, couldn’t make his shots off the dribble, and couldn’t stop the Wizards’ guards with a taser. But when LeBron fouled out and the game was on the line, he stepped up and brought the thing home. Dude sweats ice cubes.

— Tristan Thompson! There were the usual 12 boards (six offensive), including a game-sealing back-tap when Kyrie inexplicably threw up a runner with plenty of time left on the shot clock and about four seconds of difference between the shot clock and the game clock (remember when he went early in the same situation against the Warriors in Game 7? SO MUCH DEJA VU), but he was a BEAST inside. When they lobbed it, he got up. When he caught it around the basket, he was money with both hands on his floaters. If he can stay this effective as a roll man, it adds a whole other dimension to the Cavalier offense and makes them less dependent on that drive-and-kick game, which we’ve seen can go cold.

— I like that the Cavs have stopped trying to get cute with running sets for Korver and are just letting him get his shots in the flow of the offense, because when he gets a chance to set his feet and look at the basket, that man can make a three from inside a magician’s water tank. Hand in the face, escape-dribble, running up the court at full speed on a fast-break and pulling up, doesn’t matter. You let him catch and shoot without having to turn in midair and it’s pretty much over. He had to play 30 minutes tonight because Shump went down with a sprained ankle, and Bradley Beal dropped a nice little 41 points on him. (Apparently DeAndre Liggins died on the way back to his home planet, because Lue wasn’t even putting him in as an offense/defense sub on crucial late-game possessions. I assume coach knows what he’s doing. Man’s never lost a playoff series.)

Parting thoughts:

— The worry continues to be defense. The Cavs’ defense at the point of attack continues to be a real issue, and there is way too much pointing and eye-rolling at players who supposedly blew rotations from guys who got beat. LeBron’s roaming too much without a specific purpose, and the front line and back line simply aren’t in sync.

— Bottom line, though: Heck of a game, heck of a win. That’s as good as it gets in the regular season, folks. Hopefully the ankle sprain doesn’t keep Shump out too long or cool off his hot hand. But tonight — tonight is for celebrating. Don’t worry about the Warriors or the Raptors or the playoffs or anything tonight. Just enjoy this game. Bask in it. Remember how you felt in those moments where the Cavs pulled through. It’s why we put up with being sports fans in the first place.