CHICAGO - After the Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Chicago Bulls 105-102 Saturday night, LeBron James told reporters he wanted to take that potential game-winning 3-pointer towards the end of regulation.

"I definitely would have loved to been in that position after it got swung to Kev [Love] and to [Matthew] Delly. I wish that was me for sure," he said. "One more swing. Selfishly, I wish I had a look at it the way I was shooting the ball tonight. But Delly left it short."

It was an air ball from a 42-percent shooter. Matthew Dellavedova finished the night 1-for-5 from downtown. Had he found the bottom of the net, the Cavaliers would have been up one with about four seconds remaining on the clock. James, on the other hand, was cooking from the outside, as he was 4-of-5 from deep. That's why he desperately wanted that ball.

He was calling for the ball at the top of the key with his hands out while scooting behind the line in case Dellavedova made the extra pass. Bulls guard Derrick Rose was the nearest defender to James, but he wasn't going to be able to prevent the four-time MVP from getting the shot off.

The sequence of events that led to that shot was not anything conventional.

The Bulls' bench spearheaded a fourth-quarter scoring surge to build a 13-point lead at the midway point. Cleveland managed to climb within three. J.R. Smith was fouled on a defensive rebound attempt and sent to the foul line with eight seconds to go. He bounced the first one in and then missed the second one on purpose.

"That was a plan that I had," Smith revealed afterward. "Nobody else knew about it, honestly."

Smith somehow skied in to snatch his own offensive rebound, understanding Chicago would be focused on boxing out Love and Tristan Thompson. With nowhere to go in the paint, he passed to Love, who swung it to a wide-open Dellavedova for that three.

"In that situation, it's very rare that the shooter gets the offensive rebound," Smith said. "It's more like someone running in and grabbing it. But I just knew how they boxed out coming down the stretch so I figured I'll try it."

That's just J.R. being J.R.

"You never know what J.R. is going to do," James said with a laugh. "So, it worked out perfectly, I'll tell you that."

Cleveland had another opportunity to at least tie the game. There were 1.6 seconds left and it was Cavaliers' ball, down three. Smith's number was called. After all, he was 7-of-13 from beyond the arc at that point.

"I'm not going to lie. I told him (Tyronn Lue) I wanted it," Smith said. "I saw we had a chance and knew we were going to call timeout. I'm like 'I've got to get this one. I hit seven. What more do you want me to do?' It means a lot though because of the guys we've got on this team."

Smith received the ball and launched a difficult turnaround 26-footer that fell short. But Smith thinks there was a reason it fell short.

"It was a great look. I couldn't ask for a better look," Smith said sarcastically, in reference to Chicago's Justin Holiday making contact with him on the shot. "It just didn't go in."

The Bulls have gone to the playoffs for seven straight years, and though it's unlikely they make it eight, the Cavaliers missed a golden opportunity to stick it to their division rival. James has been on teams that have ended the Bulls' seasons in five of the last seven years, and he's well aware of that.

Had he been delivered that ball for the game-winner, there's no doubt in his mind that he would have made it six of the last eight years.

Chicago has been one of the most disappointing teams in the NBA, but when James is in town, they tend to relish the challenge. A couple of shots that failed to reach the rim and a pass that never occurred are the Cavaliers' lasting impressions on offense.

"I told you guys yesterday and I told you guys this morning at shootaround: The Chicago Bulls that play us are not going to be the ones that have been struggling a little bit off and on as of late," James said. "They always play well versus us. It's just human nature. When they see me, it's like, 'OK.' They wish I wore every uniform at this point. They definitely step up their game when they see me."