LeBron James hit a jumper over Jimmy Butler at the buzzer in overtime, giving the Cleveland Cavaliers a 140-138 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night.
Moments after James blocked Butler’s potential winning shot with 1.3 seconds left, he caught a long pass from Jeff Green, created some space from Butler near the foul line and sank his fade-away shot to end Cleveland’s eight-game losing streak on national television.
The crowd erupted and James was mobbed by his teammates as the Cavs got a much-needed win to ease tensions during a prolonged slump. Cleveland has won just seven of its last 20.
James finished with 37 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds in 48 minutes. He also passed Zydrunas Ilgauskas (5,904) on Cleveland’s rebounds list.
J.R. Smith added 20 points and Isaiah Thomas had 13 points and seven assists in one of his best games in weeks. Butler scored 35 points for Minnesota, and Karl-Anthony Towns had 30.
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