LeBron James looked at the clock and scoreboard and didn’t flinch.

It was time to fix things. His time. Closing time.

”He gets that look Alex Tuch Jersey Kids ,” Cavaliers forward Kyle Korver said.

James scored 13 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter and rallied Cleveland from a 17-point deficit to stun the Washington Wizards 119-115 on Thursday night to maintain the No. 3 playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Cavs trailed 104-87 with 7:35 left before storming back behind James, who added 14 assists, nine rebounds and made sure coach Tyronn Lue got a win in his return after missing nine games due to health reasons.

Cleveland was down 14 when James checked in with 7:48 left, and 13 seconds later, the deficit swelled to 17 when the three-time champion took off on one of those runs that have made him famous.

”I don’t have a quit bone in me, so if I’m on the floor I’ve got to try to make plays happen no matter what the score is,” he said. ”That’s just my mindset.”

Jeff Green added 21 points and Kevin Love had 16 for the Cavs, who are 10-1 since March 17, when Lue was forced to leave a game in Chicago with ”piercing” chest pains. Lue, who has changed his diet and is taking sleep medication, has come back to a Cleveland team that seems to be hitting its stride just in time for the playoffs.

But it took another of those patented James’ comebacks to down the Wizards, who have dropped seven of nine and are in a three-way battle with Milwaukee and Miami for playoff positioning.

Wizards coach Scott Brooks said he feared James would do exactly what he did.

”Like I said before the game, I’ll say it after the game and probably five years from now I’ll say the same thing,” he said. ”He’s the best player in the league and he does that every night. You don’t get to see players like him often.”

Washington’s John Wall looked more like his speedy All-Star self in his third game back from knee surgery, scoring 28 points with 14 assists. But he had a costly turnover in the closing seconds and the Wizards couldn’t put away the Cavs down the stretch.

Bradley Beal added 19 points, and Otto Porter had 18 for Washington.

A basket by Markieff Morris gave the Wizards a 110-100 lead with 3:16 left Youth Dustin Byfuglien Jersey , but James scored six straight, fed Green for layup, and Rodney Hood made two free throws to complete a 10-0 run by the Cavs. Morris then converted a three-point play, but Cleveland’s Kyle Korver knocked down a 3 in front of Washington’s bench – from nearly the same spot where he missed a big 3 in Game 3 of last year’s Finals.

”Yeah I was wide open and the ball was in the perfect pocket,” Korver said. ”I got to line it up and shoot it.”

Green’s two free throws – on a tough call against Wall, who appeared to make a clean steal – gave the Cavs a 116-115 lead, but after Walls missed a short jumper, James split a pair of three throws, giving Washington one last chance.

Wall drove the lane but instead of going to the basket, he attempted a twisting pass outside that was stolen by rookie Cedi Osman, who made two free throws to close it out.

”I already knew on the play before that I wasn’t going to get the call, so why even put myself in that position?” Wall said. ”I tried to find a teammate for a wide open shot. You just give that guy credit for making a great defensive stop.”

SEEDING

The Wizards remained in the No. 7 spot, sandwiched between the Heat and Bucks, who lost at home to Brooklyn.

MORE INJURIES

Lue came back to a familiar situation as the Cavs, who have endured injuries for months, were missing point guards Jose Calderon (hamstring) and George Hill (ankle).

TIP-INS

Wizards: Brooks said Wall will not play Friday night. He’s yet to play consecutive game since returning. … Wall lost weight during his recovery Jonathan Marchessault Jersey , and coach Scott Brooks said that should help the All-Star going forward. ”It’s going to be good for his long-term recovery,” Brooks said. ”It’s good for him. It’s good for us. He just needs to gets some reps.”

Cavaliers: Won their eighth straight at home. … James has scored 30 points in 429 games, tying Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for fifth place in league history. … Osman is the seventh different starting point guard for Cleveland, which because of injuries has had 29 starting lineups. … Lue was sorry to learn Celtics guard Kyrie Irving will miss the playoffs. Irving had a great run with Cleveland and will be forever remembered for his go-ahead 3-pointer in the closing minutes of Game 7 in the 2016 Finals. ”He was a big part of what we did here, a big part of winning the championship and even though he’s on another team you still don’t want to see anyone go through that,” Lue said.

UP NEXT

Wizards: Host Atlanta on Friday night.

Cavaliers: At Philadelphia on Friday night.

The New Orleans Saints can only hope safety Marcus Williams' recent refusal to discuss the last play of last season isn't a sign of mental fragility.

New Orleans is counting on Williams, a 2017 second-round draft choice , to build on a largely promising rookie campaign that helped solidify the Saints' secondary and propel the club back to the playoffs for the first time in four years.

At issue now is how Williams will move forward from the cruel way his first NFL season ended. His whiffed tackle attempt on Minnesota's Stefon Diggs last January allowed the Vikings receiver to score a 61-yard, game-winning touchdown in the dying seconds of an NFC divisional round playoff game.

It's a question that, for now, Williams declines to field.

"I'm not talking about last year," Williams said after practice on Saturday.

Asked moments later if he still watches a video he promoted on social media that opens with that final play in Minnesota 鈥?which he titled "Turning my NIGHTMARE into my MOTIVATION" 鈥?Williams smiled silently and turned his gaze toward a team public relations official, who ended the interview.

Defensive backs routinely utter the refrain that players at their position must have short memories 鈥?that they must quickly forget receptions made by players they defend and focus immediately on their next opportunity to thwart a pass.

But in Williams' case, the touchdown he couldn't prevent in Minnesota instantly went into NFL annals as one of the more stunning and unusual endings to a playoff game in league history.

That one will be hard to forget.

Meanwhile, Williams' decision to block a columnist for The Times-Picayune on Twitter also raises questions about how he deals with scrutiny.

Teammates, however Tim Schaller Jersey , are quick to suggest that Williams' performance at training camp says more about his response than anything else.

"The way he approaches practice, the way he approaches each meeting, the way he approaches the game 鈥?period 鈥?you can tell he doesn't necessarily think about it, but it's there and it drives him," Saints defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins said. "He's been playing out of his mind in training camp so far.

"I commend him for that," Rankins continued. "A play of that magnitude in that game 鈥?that could derail a lot of people's confidence and kind of make people go into the tank."

During the first couple weeks of training camp, Williams has looked like a star in the making, closing hard on balls thrown anywhere near him. Several times, he has intercepted Drew Brees, who compared Williams to retired Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed, a five-time All-Pro.

"I really love everything about him as a teammate and as a young player who is just hungry to be great," Brees said. "He is definitely a presence and a force in the deep part of the field. You have to know where he is because he's got such good range and such good instincts."

Coach Sean Payton appeared to make a point this offseason of deflecting blame for last season's end away from Williams, who not only had four interceptions during the 2017 regular season, but also had another pick in the playoff game against the Vikings. While being interviewed by his daughter, Meghan, on NFL Network Auston Matthews Jersey , Payton said his biggest regret from the playoff loss was the Saints offense's inability to convert a third-and-1 play before kicking a go-ahead field goal with 25 seconds left. If New Orleans had gotten one more first down, Payton reasoned, the Saints' field goal would have been attempted with virtually no time left for the Vikings to respond.

And after recent practices, Payton has been highly complimentary of Williams.

"You have seen him come back in the spring and even now in training camp, just playing at a real high level," Payton said. "He is just continuing to get better. He is a great thinker. He is smart. Rarely on the field does he do something that you don't want. That intelligence, along with his physical skill set, are two great traits."

Williams does discuss the upcoming season. And in those moments, he doesn't sound like a player overly burdened by his past.

"I just do my one-eleventh 鈥?whatever the coach tells me to do," Williams said. "Everybody has their own job to do. You can't be Superman out here."

NOTES: Players not practicing on Saturday included DE Marcus Davenport, WR Cameron Meredith, TE Michael Hoomanawanui and DL Mitch Loewen. Davenport, the club's first-round draft pick last spring, has not practiced in about two weeks.

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