CLEVELAND -- There's a famous picture of LeBron James, not much older than 3-years-old -- if that -- playing with a Little Tikes hoop on Christmas morning.
"With a saggy Pamper on," James said of the photo in the early hours of what had become Sunday morning.
Even then, James was preparing for moments like the one he had just experienced.
In a postseason that's already been filled with late-game heroics and enough highlight reel caliber plays to fill a SportsCenter top-10, the Cleveland Cavaliers' megastar added to his resume with a one-legged, buzzer-beating, game-winning bank shot to secure a 105-103 victory and 3-0 series lead over the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night. James' latest addition to his still-growing legacy was his second game-winning buzzer-beater in the last two weeks, the previous one coming in the Cavs' Game 5 victory over the Indiana Pacers in the playoffs' opening round.
With Cleveland having blown a 17-point second-half lead and a 14-point fourth quarter advantage, James was adamant the Cavs' latest victory shouldn't have even needed his heroics. That, however, didn't make it any less exciting for a player who continues to cement his status as one of the greatest clutch players in NBA history.
"Tie game, down 1 or whatever the case may be, I live for those moments," James said. "Like I told y'all in the Indiana series, that mental clock of being a kid and kind of telling myself, '3, 2, 1' and making the noise of the net, that 'woosh' sound, I've been doing that since I was 6, 7, 8-years-old. Maybe even before that."
He's also been doing it plenty throughout the past 13 years, with Saturday night's shot marking the fifth buzzer-beating game-winner of his postseason career. To put that number in perspective, that's more walk-off shots in the playoffs than Michael Jordan (3) and Kobe Bryant (1) lay claim to combined.
But while James has hit some incredible shots -- three of his five postseason buzzer-beaters have been 3-pointers -- his most recent was arguably his toughest to make.
Taking the ball out the length of the court with just under nine seconds remaining, James dribbled to his left before crossing over Raptors rookie OG Anunoby. Hopping off his left leg, the 4-time MVP then lofted a one-handed floater off the glass while fading away to cap what was ultimately a 38-point performance.
"The level of difficulty of that shot is very difficult," James said. "Don't try it at home."
If there's anyone who would know, it's James. After all, he's been practicing it since he was in saggy Pampers.
