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Cavaliers vs. Rockets Final Score: LeBron’s Bricks Cost Cavs in 105-103 Loss

By Josh Hill

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169. Final. 103. 156. 105

The Cleveland Cavaliers lived and died by LeBron James’ afternoon at the free throw line — and it was a brutal death indeed. 

In what very well could have been an NBA Finals preview, the Cleveland Cavaliers went down to Houston and lost in overtime to the Rockets 105-103, but that’s not the headline.

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It’s not that the Cavaliers lost in overtime to the Rockets, it’s how and why they lost. LeBron James returned home this summer to much fanfare but the going has been rough at times and fans in Cleveland have been reminded of the hard times they had while LeBron was here the first time around.

Sunday afternoon in Houston was one of those reminders.

LeBron James went an atrocious 3-for-11 from the free throw line and ended up costing the Cavaliers a win not once or twice but a series of times throughout the course of the game.

If LeBron just hits one of this six missed free throws in regulation, the Cavaliers win. If LeBron hits just one of his two missed free throws in overtime, then we may still be playing but LeBron missed a grand total of right free throws on the afternoon and left valuable points at the stripe.

That’s way the Cavaliers lost, and it’s impossible to not place this on LeBron. We’ve been deflecting blame off LeBron James all season long, but this loss was on him. He’s the superstar, he’s the face of the franchise and he’s the one who is supposed to his free throws — not even clutch free throws, just free throws in general.

Heavy is the head that wears the crown.

Obviously, there are other factors to think about here, as LeBron James wasn’t at 100 percent and there was zero percent of Kyrie Irving in the game. Had Irving played, the outcome would have been different but he didn’t and it wasn’t.

This was very much a possible NBA Finals preview and even though the Cavaliers lost, if this is the Finals matchup we get then basketball fans everywhere win. From Patrick Beverley fighting LeBron James to James Harden’s shot to the grown and dosey-doe foul attempt, this was a wildly entertaining game and we’d be lucky to get it as an NBA Finals showdown this season.

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