CLEVELAND — The Indiana Pacers felt cheated by LeBron James and the officials.

Moments before James beat them with a game-winning, step-back 3-pointer at the buzzer Wednesday night, the Pacers were poised to take the lead in Game 5 on Victor Oladipo’s driving layup. But James came from behind and blocked Oladipo’s shot, which appeared to hit the backboard before James touched it – a goaltending violation.

Instead there was no call and James then dropped his 28-footer over Thaddeus Young to give Cleveland a 98-95 win and a 3-2 lead in a tight Eastern Conference first-round series.

The Pacers didn’t complain on the floor. But later in their locker room they were angry about the game-swinging play. Several of the Pacers shook their heads while watching replays.

“Of course I thought it was goaltending,” Lance Stephenson said. “We should have got the ref’s attention. When you look at it on the replay, it’s clearly goaltending.”

Under NBA rules, goaltending is only reviewable if the call is made on the floor.

Oladipo thought he was fouled by James before the non-call.

“I got a step on him,” Oladipo said. “I felt like I even got grabbed on the way to the rim, tried to shoot a layup, it hit the backboard, then he blocked it. It was a goaltend. It’s hard to even speak on it. It just (stinks), honestly. It really (stinks). Even though we fought our way back, we tied the game up, that layup was huge.

“Give him credit where credit is due. The 3 was big-time. Definitely huge. But who’s to say they even run that play? We don’t know what happens. It’s unfortunate. It really (stinks) that they missed that.”

James smiled when asked to describe his block, which was reminiscent of the one he made on Andre Iguodala in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA finals.

“I definitely thought it was a goaltend,” James said with a laugh. “Of course I didn’t think it was a goaltend. I try to make plays like that all the time and I mean he made a heck of a move, got me leaning right and he went left, and I just tried to use my recovery speed and get back up there and make a play on the ball. And I was able to make a play.”

Even if goaltending was called, the Cavaliers would have gotten the ball in frontcourt, giving James a makeable shot in the final seconds.

Said Pacers center Myles Turner: “It’s clearly a goaltend, but that doesn’t change the fact that they made the game-winning shot.”

WARRIORS: Stephen Curry resumed full practice with contact and could play for Golden State as soon as Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals Saturday night against New Orleans.

Curry looked strong as he practiced Thursday wearing a protective brace over his sprained left knee, which has sidelined him since the injury March 23 – the same day he returned from a six-game absence because of a hurt right ankle.

Coach Steve Kerr is calling Curry questionable for Saturday. That could change if Curry still feels fine Friday and is fine after one more day of full practice before the Pelicans visit to begin the best-of-seven series.

NUGGETS: Center Mason Plumlee underwent surgery to fix a core-muscle injury.

Plumlee is expected to return to basketball activities this summer and be ready for training camp in the fall. He averaged 7.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists for a Nuggets team that narrowly missed out on the postseason.

Plumlee, 28, was acquired by Denver as part of a deal in February 2017 that sent center Jusuf Nurkic to Portland. Plumlee signed a three-year, $41 million deal with the Nuggets last September.

HAWKS: General Manager Travis Schlenk described Coach Mike Budenholzer’s exit as “harmonious” and “as mutual as parting can be.”

Schlenk also said the decision, finalized and announced late Wednesday, came after many discussions with Budenholzer and wasn’t based on just one factor.

WedNESDAY’S LATE GAME

THUNDER 107, JAZZ 99: Russell Westbrook scored 45 points and Oklahoma City rallied from 25 points down in the second half to fight off elimination at home. Utah takes a 3-2 lead back to Salt Lake City for Game 6 on Friday night.

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