James hits buzzer beater to lift Cavs past Bulls

LeBron James made a baseline jumper as time expired to lift the Cleveland Cavaliers to an 86-84 win over the Chicago Bulls in game four the NBA playoff quarter-finals on Sunday.

Two-time finals MVP James caught an inbounds pass with 1.5 seconds left and drained a fadeaway shot from the left side with Jimmy Butler hounding him to even the Eastern Conference series at two games apiece.

Teammates mobbed James after he drilled the shot from 21 feet following the pass from teammate Matthew Dellavedova.

The shot marked the second consecutive buzzer-beater in the series. In game three, Derrick Rose banked in a three-pointer as time expired to win that contest for Chicago. 

James finished with 25 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists while centre Timofey Mozgov contributed 15 points and nine rebounds in the win.

Rose led the Bulls with 31 points and four assists. Guard Jimmy Butler scored 19 points, and centre Joakim Noah tallied eight points with 15 rebounds. 

Cleveland trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half before going on a 23-5 burst that made it 80-73 with just over four minutes left in the fourth.

Guard J.R. Smith ignited the rally with a trio of baskets from beyond the arc early in the fourth quarter.