Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James (23) drives to the basket against Indiana Pacers' Thaddeus Young (21) in the first half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series, Wednesday, April 25, 2018, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James (23) drives to the basket against Indiana Pacers' Thaddeus Young (21) in the first half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series, Wednesday, April 25, 2018, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak) Credit: Tony Dejak

Cleveland — LeBron James hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer, a crowning moment for another brilliant performance, to give Cleveland a 98-95 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night in Game 5, putting the Cavaliers within one victory of advancing in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Moments after blocking Victor Oladipo’s possible go-ahead driving layup, James caught the inbounds pass, took two dribbles and dropped the winner over Thaddeus Young.

As Cleveland’s sellout crowd exploded, James hugged rookie teammate Cedi Osman before jumping on the scorer’s table to celebrate another of those moments that will define his career.

James finished with 44 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and went 15 of 15 from the line.

Cleveland can close out Indiana with a win on Friday night in Indianapolis.

Raptors 108, Wizards 98

Toronto — DeMar DeRozan scored 32 points, Kyle Lowry had 17 points and 10 assists and Toronto beat Washington in Game 5 of the first-round series.

Toronto rebounded after losing Games 3 and 4 in Washington to take a 3-2 series lead back to Washington for Game 6 on Friday night.

The only team in the NBA to avoid a three-game losing streak this season, the Raptors went 5-0 following back-to-back losses during the regular season, and have not lost three straight since last year’s second-round sweep against Cleveland.

Hawks Coach Out

Atlanta — The Atlanta Hawks and coach Mike Budenholzer mutually agreed to part ways. The team announced the move Wednesday night.

Budenholzer was 213-192 in the regular season and 17-22 in the playoffs in five seasons with Atlanta. The Hawks were an Eastern Conference-worst 24-28 this season.