LeBron James Says He Scratched David Blatt's Call on Game-Winning Shot vs. Bulls

LeBron James' game-winner in the Cleveland Cavaliers' 86-84 Game 4 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday almost never happened. 

James told reporters during his postgame availability that head coach David Blatt's original baseline out-of-bounds play called for him to pass the ball in, according to Sports Illustrated's Ben Golliver: 

Swingman J.R. Smith acknowledged that he was also a bit perplexed by Blatt's original call: 

Fortunately for the Cavaliers, LeBron took initiative. Had he not, Cleveland could have been staring at the possibility of overtime and a 3-1 series deficit with the series shifting back to Quicken Loans Arena for Game 5 on Tuesday night (7 p.m. ET on TNT).

That wasn't Blatt's only slip-up, either. 

After Derrick Rose knotted things at 84 after a tough drive inside with less than 10 seconds remaining, Blatt attempted to call a timeout. However, the Cavaliers had burned all of their stoppages.

For Blatt's sake, it's a good thing assistant coach Tyronn Lue was alert enough to attract his attention and get him to slink away from the referees before they assessed a technical foul.

He then went on to fully admit his near-catastrophic mistake, according to ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin: 

As Grantland's Zach Lowe noted, Sunday wasn't the rookie head coach's finest hour: 

And while James was hardly efficient in the Game 4 win—shooting 10-of-30 from the field and 1-of-7 from three—he still managed to post 25 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists while playing a good chunk of the second half with a turned left ankle. 

According to Basketball-Reference.com, those statistical benchmarks have been met five times in a playoff game since 2010, and James has tallied three of those lines. The other two belong to Blake Griffin (2015) and Rajon Rondo (2010). 

For the series, James is shooting an underwhelming 37.7 percent from the floor and 2-of-19 on threes, but his averages of 26.0 points, 11.3 rebounds and 9.0 dimes are approaching nightly triple-double status. 

With a thrilling finish in the rear-view mirror, Cleveland will look to take advantage of its ability to reclaim home-court advantage for the rest of the series. 

That said, the Cavaliers will need a much sharper offensive effort at home. They shot under 40 percent for the second straight game, and the team's attack continued to be plagued by stagnancy for extended stretches.

James can play hero, but it's asking a lot for him to single-handedly lift a team that's without Kevin Love (shoulder) and relying on a gimpy Kyrie Irving (foot strain). 

However, now that normalcy has been restored to a degree, James and the Cavaliers can step back and re-evaluate how they can attack the Bulls' weaknesses and mask their own in the days ahead. 

Alec Nathan covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @AlecBNathan.