LeBron James was the hero and Australian teammate Matthew Dellavedova was a villain in some eyes as the Cleveland Cavaliers claimed a commanding 3-0 over the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference finals.
James played through a myriad of injuries and turned in a courageous performance with 37 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists as the Cavaliers won a physical game three by 114-111 in overtime at home on Sunday night.
James, who missed his first 10 shots, ended 14-of-37 from the field.
The banged up Cavaliers can advance to the NBA finals with a win in game four on Tuesday.
Dellavedova’s aggressive play has become a major talking point.
In game two Dellavedova ended Hawks’ sharp-shooter Kyle Korver’s season when he crashed into his ankle while diving for a ball on the floor.
In game three he became entangled with Korver’s starting replacement Al Horford, they fell to the court and Horford was ejected when he aimed an elbow at the Australian’s head.
A hobbled James thought about taking himself out of the game in overtime but changed his mind. The pain on his face was plain to see when he drained a three pointer with under a minute left to give the Cavaliers the lead.
Exhausted and sore, James then dropped to the floor after Sheldon Mack’s potentially tying shot from beyond the arc bounced off the rim and out of harm’s way as the final buzzer sounded.
His shot to give Cleveland a 112-111 advantage with 36 seconds left was his only three pointer of the contest in front of a crowd of 20,500 at Quicken Loans Arena.
He banked in a field goal with 12 seconds left just one possession later, and Mack missed a pair of three-point attempts in the final five seconds.
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