Watch: LeBron Destroys Trail Blazers D With One-Handed Dunk
The injury-riddled Cleveland Cavaliers may have lost another game Thursday, but LeBron James had the highlight of the night with a vicious slam over Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic.
With just over seven minutes left in the first quarter, James dribbled around what seemed to be an accidental pick set by Blazers guard Damian Lillard, then went like a freight train toward the hoop.
The only thing in his way was Nurkic. But instead of going around, James went over the seven-footer, posterizing him with a one-handed throw-down.
https://twitter.com/TheRenderNBA/status/974470286576930817
Some Twitter users are saying it’s one of the best dunks of James’ career.
Lebron's best dunks off the top of my head, (no order) the one on nurkic from last night, the one on Damon Jones, the one on tim duncan, the one on KG the Jason Terry one, his one over John Lucas and the one on Paul millsap
— 🎤N-jay 🏀 (@_Njay3) March 16, 2018
Here it is from another angle.
https://twitter.com/World_Wide_Wob/status/974473045921411073
The dunk went down with authority, perhaps letting out some of the frustrations that James has felt this year.
The Cavaliers lost the game 113-105, their third defeat in the last four games and fifth in the last eight contests.
Cleveland (39-29) now trails the Indiana Pacers by a half-game for the third seed in the Eastern Conference. Moreover, the Cavaliers are just a half-game ahead of the Washington Wizards, who are fifth in the East.
The Cavaliers have been hobbled by injuries all year, particularly in the front court, where Kevin Love, Larry Nance and Tristan Thompson are all sidelined.
James did what he could against the Trail Blazers, dropping 35 points to go along with 14 rebounds and six assists.
But he also turned the ball over six times and missed a layup when the Cavs were down by five with just over 30 seconds to go.
“I thought he was tired maybe,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said of James following the loss, according to the Cleveland.com. “He had to do too much, play too many minutes, but when you’re shorthanded it’s gonna happen.”
The red-hot Trail Blazers were led by CJ McCollum, who scored 29 points, and Lillard, who tacked on 24.
Portland has won 11 straight games to improve to 42-26. They trail only the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference.
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