Cavs Break Slump on LeBron's Buzzer Beater

The King notches his 9th triple-double of the season as Cleveland beats Minnesota in overtime.

It seems that the Cleveland Cavaliers' problems don't seem to run out these days. They don't defend well as they have been allowing their opponents to score almost at will. Kevin Love is out, Tyronn Lue and Isaiah Thomas have different views with regards to whether or not the Cavs are making the needed adjustments. And, they have lost two consecutive games- both were blowout loses. 

Fortunately for the Cavs, they still have LeBron James on board who earlier said that he would never waive his "no-trade" clause,  Against the Minnesota Timberwolves, LeBron blocked Jimmy Butler's potential game-winning lay-up and with a second left in the extra period, the King received a long pass from Jeff Green who made the inbound pass from way behind the logo then, faded away from Butler, releasing a shot as  the buzzer sounded. Nailed it! The Cavs won, 140-138 in a game which saw the lead switches hands, 33 times and, 16 ties. 

How crazy the game was? Below are the numbers:

It was Raining Threes!

Both squads combined for 40 made three-pointers- a new NBA record. The Cavs went 21 for 41 from the deep while the Wolves went 19 for 33. JR Smith led the Cavs' snipers as he nailed 6 of his 11 attempts from downtown, en route to 20 points. LeBron James went 5 for 7 from downtown. On the other side of the court, Karl Anthony-Towns was perfect from the three-point line, making all 6 of his attempts. Jimmy Butler went 4 for 5 from that area as he engaged in a classic shootout against LeBron James. 

The Butler-LeBron Match-Up

The Cavs may have won the game but we can't deny the fact that the game was an exciting one and that's because of the intense battle between LeBron James going up head-to-head against Jimmy Butler. In this battle, LeBron had the last laugh as he walked away with 37 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds in 48 minutes. The King shot16 for 22 from the field and had a steal and a block- the big one against Butler at the dying moments of the extra period.  On the other hand, Jimmy Buttler led the Wolves with 35 points on  14 for 21 shooting. He also had 5 rebounds and 6 assists.

Conclusion

This is definitely a good win for the Cavs despite allowing 138 points in the process.  If they can keep on winning games especially against the NBA's elite teams despite their horrible defense, they might be able to make a deep run into the playoffs. MIGHT. But that doesn't mean that they don't need to improve on their defense. THEY STILL NEED TO WORK ON THEIR DEFENSE especially if they intend to challenge the Golden State Warriors. Why? LeBron cannot bail them out every single game.