CLEVELAND – LeBron James nailed a three-point dagger at the buzzer as the Cleveland Cavaliers stunned the Orlando Magic 96-95 to level their NBA semi-finals series on Friday.

"That's a great shot man," James said. "We couldn't afford to go down 0-2 to Orlando. That's a great shot."

It was the only three pointer of the night for James as he made the most of it and finished with 35 points.

There was just one second remaining on the clock when James nailed his 25-foot shot as the horn sounded and he sprinted into the arms of his teammates.

James was confident he got the fadeaway three pointer, over Hedo Turkoglu, off in time but couldn't resist watching it a second time on the courtside video replay.

"I knew it was good," said James. "The camera never lies. I had to go check it out."

In front of a sold-out crowd of 20,562, James took an inbound pass from teammate Mo Williams before turning and shooting in the same motion.

"He stepped back made a big shot. You can't do nothing about it," said Turkoglu. "That one really hurts. We had the game in the last second and you turn around he makes a crazy shot."

The Magic appeared to be heading to sure victory as Turkoglu hit a jumper with one second left to give the Magic a 95-93 lead.

"Hedo hit a big shot and I had to match it," James said.

Game 3 is Sunday in Orlando.

"We have got to fight through it," James said. "Everybody at this position in the playoffs is tired."