CLEVELAND — LeBron James dropped to his knees and slapped the floor with his hand.
He was exhausted and exhilarated — and one win from the NBA Finals.
James shook off an atrocious shooting start and withstood Atlanta’s gritty comeback to record a triple-double, and the Cleveland Cavaliers took a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals with a 114-111 win in overtime on Sunday night over the Hawks.
James missed his first 10 shots, but finished with 37 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists. The Cavs needed every single one of them to hold off the top-seeded Hawks, who fought Cleveland until the final seconds despite being without injured shooter Kyle Korver and losing Al Horford, who was ejected in the first half.