LeBron James got to the line with the Cavaliers trailing by one point and 4.2 seconds left on the clock, but he missed both shots, more or less handing the Rockets a 105-103 win on Sunday.
Cavaliers vs. Rockets final score: James Harden tops LeBron James in wild overtime thriller
LeBron James missed a pair of free throws with the game on the line in a moment his detractors will never live down.
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James Harden scored 33 points, most of them with James guarding him, to lead Houston. James had 37 points, but made just 3-of-11 free throws, including two pivotal misses in the closing seconds. Here's the video of James' crunch-time misses:
It was a stunning late-game failure from a guy who has shot 74 percent from the line in his career. LeBron has been haunted his entire career by people claiming he isn’t “clutch,” and this game will be a part of their argument for years to come.
Harden hit a free throw at the other end to give the Rockets a two-point lead and intentionally missed the second. The Cavs had an opportunity to score with 0.3 seconds left, but couldn’t get a shot off.
Here’s what we learned:
1. The Rockets will get on anyone’s nerves
LeBron doesn’t have a tendency to get into fights or get scrappy. It would be really bad from a PR perspective if he were viewed by fans as a guy who did. He has 48 technical fouls in his 12 NBA seasons.
But against the Rockets, he picked up one tech in this wrestling match with Patrick Beverley:
And he was furious after this kick in the groin from James Harden:
2. James Harden and LeBron want that MVP
Sure, there were eight other guys on the court. But James and Harden were going head-to-head Sunday. Everybody on the court, watching at the Toyota Center and watching on TV knew only two players mattered. Only one basket after the 6:11 mark of the fourth quarter wasn’t scored or assisted by Harden or James.
James guarded Harden on defense. James marked him with intense physicality, like on this play:
And Harden took particular pleasure in getting past James off the dribble. Both players played like beating their opponent mattered, and it was fun as heck.
3. The Cavs’ end-game plan is ... LeBron
The Cavs had the ball with the score tied and the shot clock off in regulation. Their play was ... a LeBron iso.
The Cavs had the ball down one and the shot clock off in overtime. Their play was ... a LeBron iso.
Maybe this would probably be different if Kyrie Irving was there, but ... maybe not. It's not rocket science that you want to get the ball into the hands of one of the best basketball players of all time, but they really didn't try to do anything tricky with it whatsoever. The results -- one missed shot, one trip to the line -- weren't awful, but it was compounded by James' misses.
Maybe this will change with Irving back? Then again maybe it won’t.
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