CLEVELAND -- Wandering the halls of Quicken Loans Arena at halftime on Wednesday night, you could sense the dread creeping in.
LeBron James had already scored 20 points, grabbed 4 rebounds and dished out 3 assists, but it wasn't nearly enough. The Cleveland Cavaliers trailed the Indiana Pacers 56-49 and were 24 minutes away from facing a 3-2 deficit in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.
What was more was that if the Pacers were to hold onto their lead and proceed to close out the series in Game 6 in Indianapolis on Friday night, James could have very well been halfway through his final home game with his hometown franchise. The national media, which has feasted on James' impending free agency for nearly a year now, was certainly well aware.
But then a third quarter unlike any other Cleveland has experienced in this series occurred, with James scoring 15 points while helping push the Cavs to what at one point was a 12-point lead. The pesky Pacers, however, weren't ready to give up just yet, ultimately tying the game at 95 on a Domantas Sabonis 15-footer with 33.6 seconds remaining.
A James turnover followed on a failed two-for-one, seemingly giving Indiana the final shot in regulation. When Victor Oladipo drove the lane and lunged toward the hoop, the Pacers appeared to accomplish just that as all that familiar dread continued to creep back in.
Only that fear -- and the ball -- were swatted away in an instant by James on a highly debated block that some -- including Oladipo -- believed should have been called a goaltend.
But without any whistle being blown, the ball landed in J.R. Smith's hands as James signaled for a timeout and one last crack at preventing overtime. With three seconds remaining on the clock, the 4-time MVP took two dribbles to the left before pulling up and fading away from Thaddeus Young, throwing up an arching shot that seemed to freeze at its highest point before regaining its real-time speed as the buzzer sounded.
*Swish*
James has hit game-winners before -- buzzer-beaters in later rounds even -- and where this one ranks is now up to you to decide.
"I don't know," James said. "But it's given us a lead in a playoff series. I think we played some really good basketball tonight. For me to be able to make that shot and us take the lead in this series, that's what's most important."
But what doesn't seem debatable is where James' latest game-winner ranks on an emotional level.
After sinking the shot, James made a B-line for rookie Cedi Osman -- "That's my rook. He's always on time and on target," he said -- before being mobbed by the rest of his Cavaliers teammates. The Akron native then proceeded to celebrate with some courtside fans and even briefly took a page out of Dwyane Wade's book, hopping up on the scorer's table in a "this is my house" type of moment.
"They were electric tonight," James, who finished with 44 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists, said of the fans. "They know me. For 11 years out of my career and a few of them even kind of paid attention to me when I was in high school as well.
"They pay their hard-earned money to come see us play and for me and my ball club, for us to go out and have a game like we had tonight, that was just our show and my show of appreciation."
Who knows how many more times he'll be able to do it.
As opposed to a decade ago, when James sank a buzzer-beater in Game 2 of the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals against the Orlando Magic on this very court, the shot -- and block -- on Wednesday night didn't seem to mark the beginning of an era, but rather signal the end of one.
Between his age, impending free agency and a Cavs roster that still doesn't appear championship-caliber, the opportunities for these type of celebrations in inside 'The Q' are seemingly shrinking. This playoff run is nice distraction, but the number of people naive to what's possible -- both for James and this franchise -- this summer is shrinking.
Perhaps that's what made the image of James surrounded in a sea of Northeast Ohioans -- his people -- so special. It could also very well wind up bittersweet.
"I felt like I was a kid again," James said.
He wasn't alone.
