Usually it’s Lebron chasing down unsuspecting players for the emphatic goalpost rejection
Yesterday, Lebron was the victim.
With 1:30 left in the 2nd quarter, Lebron stripped Enes Kanter of the basketball, and turned up the jets as he proceeded to race towards the goalpost.
In typical Lebron fashion, Lebron easily barreled past Utah guard Alec Burks.
It would have easily been a basket, except, coming from behind, Hayward beautifully spanks away Lebron’s shot just before it hits the backboard.
The Jazz then get the ball back. With a dearth of Cavalier defenders on the other end, the Jazz are off to the races, capping off the sequence by finding none other than Gordon Hayward for the emphatic dunk. Hayward himself completes his own block-dunk sequence.
And that’s not all.
With 13 seconds left in the 4th and the Jazz up 98-94, Lebron threatened to force overtime by first hitting a three to make it a one-point game. After Alec Burks hits two free throws, Lebron then draws a questionable foul on Derrick Favors at the three point line, but subsequently hits all three freebies to knot the game at 100.
However, Hayward was not to be outdone again.
With three seconds on the clock, Hayward loses a tripping Lebron around a screen, catches the inbound pass, and hits a step-back jumper over the outstretched hands of Tristan Thompson just as time expires(see the full sequence and celebration below).
Hayward has now scored 20+ in three straight games. The fourth year forward out of Butler could be due for a career year after signing a max contract during the summer.
Lebron James’ Cavaliers now fall to 1-3 to start the season.
