LeBron James pulled his right arm tightly to his chest, unable to do anything but grimace as the final seconds expired on Cleveland's series-clinching win.
The Bulls were finally out of the way.
But for the Cavaliers, moving on in the NBA playoffs wasn't pain free
James, playing despite an injured right elbow that went numb and forced him to shoot a free throw left-handed in the closing seconds, just missed a triple-double as the Cavs advanced to a playoff date with Boston by beating Chicago 96-94 in Game 5 on Tuesday night in perhaps Vinny Del Negro's final game as Bulls coach.
James scored 19 points -- 16 in the second half -- and added 10 rebounds and nine assists as the Cavs finally saddled the stubborn Bulls to win the series 4-1. After making one free throw, James then hoisted and missed the second with his left with 7.8 seconds left and the Cavs only ahead by four.
James doesn't know when he injured the elbow, which he said bothered him the entire second half. He revealed after the game that he underwent an MRI and X-rays two days ago.
"It bothers me because I don't know what it is," James said. "Hopefully it doesn't continue to bother me. But I'm not concerned. Cleveland fans have nothing to worry about. They have no reason to panic. I don't think it's that serious."
Antawn Jamison scored 25 points and Shaquille O'Neal 14 for Cleveland, which will face Boston, reuniting teams that don't like each other and who played a testy seven-game series in 2008.
Game 1 is Saturday.
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