James hits jumper at buzzer, lifts Cavaliers over Bulls

CHICAGO — LeBron James hit a jump shot from the corner at the final buzzer to give Cleveland Cavaliers an 86-84 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday, leveling the Eastern Conference semifinal series at 2-2.

James finished with 25 points to help the Cavaliers win in another wild finish, returning the favour after Chicago took Game 3 on Derrick Rose’s banked 3-pointer at the buzzer.

This time, James got whistled for an offensive foul when he elbowed Mike Dunleavy Jr. That led to a tying layup for Rose with 9.4 seconds left.

“I was supposed to take the ball out,” James said. “I told coach there was no way I’m taking the ball out unless I could shoot it over the backboard and go in. So I told him, ‘Have somebody else take the ball out.’ The play that was drawn up, I scratched it. I just told coach, ‘Just give me the ball. We’re either going to go into overtime or I’m going to win it for us.’”

James, playing the final quarter on a sprained left ankle, ended it with the jumper from the corner over Jimmy Butler.

Game 5 is Tuesday in Cleveland.

James committed eight turnovers and struggled again from the field, hitting 10 of 30 shots. He is 18 of 55 the past two games. But he also had 14 rebounds and eight assists.

Kyrie Irving, playing with a sore foot, was 2 of 12 and had 12 points and two assists.

Timofey Mozgov had 15 points and nine rebounds. JR Smith came on strong down the stretch, scoring all but two of his 13 in the fourth quarter.

Rose scored 31 points and Jimmy Butler added 19 for Chicago, which was playing without Pau Gasol. He sat out with a strained left hamstring, and his status for Game 5 is in question.

In Sunday’s other play-off, DeAndre Jordan scored 26 points, surviving Houston’s intentional-foul fest in the first half as Los Angeles Clippers took a 3-1 series lead to put the Rockets on the brink of elimination in the Western Conference semifinals.

Jordan made 14 of 34 free throws, attempting an NBA playoff-record 28 in the first half, and had 17 rebounds. Blake Griffin added 21 points, JJ Redick had 18 points and Chris Paul finished with 15 points and 12 assists in the Clippers’ second straight blowout win in the best-of-7 series.

They can advance to the conference finals for the first time in franchise history with a victory in Game 5 Tuesday night in Houston.

James Harden scored 21 points and Trevor Ariza added 18 for the Rockets. Dwight Howard was held to seven points and six rebounds after being in foul trouble most of a game that grinded to a halt early on when Houston started forcing Jordan to the line. Howard fouled out with 9:52 remaining and left the court. 

Clippers closer to Western final 

Centre DeAndre Jordan’s double-double led Los Angeles Clippers to the brink of a first Western Conference final with a 128-95 win over the Houston Rockets at the Staples Centre on Sunday.

With 26 points and 17 rebounds, Jordan was one of six Los Angeles players in double figures as Clippers took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series ahead of Game Five at the Toyota Centre in Houston on Tuesday.

Forward Blake Griffin poured in 21 points and eight rebounds, shooting guard JJ Redick scored 18 while point guard Chris Paul finished with 15 points and 12 assists.

Guard James Harden led Houston with 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Clippers held a six-point advantage at halftime, but opened up the lead in third quarter with a 21-4 run for an 81-58 cushion after back-to-back lobs from Paul to Jordan midway through the quarter.

Rockets continued with their ploy to intentionally send Jordan to the foul line. They started their strategy less than four minutes into the contest and continued to hack Jordan until the end of the second quarter.

Jordan made only 10 of 28 foul shot attempts in the first half and 14 of 34 overall.

His 28 first-half attempts were the most in a half of a play-off game for a Clippers player, breaking the record set by Doc Rivers, now the team’s coach, against Utah Jazz in 1992.

Jordan also broke his own mark of 17 attempts in a game, recorded in last year’s first-round series against Golden State Warriors.