CLEVELAND — Michael Jordan no longer has the most famous buzzer-beater in Cleveland sports history.

The Shot has been topped.

LeBron James made one better.

James dropped a 3-pointer from the top of the key over Orlando's Hedo Turkoglu as the final horn sounded last night to give the Cavaliers a 96-95 victory over the Magic that evened the Eastern Conference finals at one game apiece.

From 23 feet — matching his jersey number and Jordan's — James hit a shot that will go down as one of the defining moments in a career that's just hitting its stride.

"That guy is not in the league any more," James said of Jordan. "The other 23 is on the good side now."

Taking the inbounds pass from Mo Williams, James only had time to turn his shoulders toward the rim and fire. As the high-arcing shot dropped through, James sprinted into the arms of his delirious teammates as 20,562 stunned fans hugged in disbelief.

"You couldn't hear anything but a roar," James said. "Those fans deserved it. That was the biggest shot I've made in my career."

In the past, this was the kind of shot that happened against the Cavs. Jordan's jumper in 1989 over Craig Ehlo eliminated Cleveland from the playoffs — a punch-in-the-stomach moment burned into the psyche of every Cleveland fan.

Well, James is changing everything around here.

Game 3 is tomorrow night in Orlando, where the Magic beat the Cavaliers twice this season and thumped them by 29 points on April 3.

One second before James' shot, Turkoglu hit a 12-footer in the lane to give the Magic, who overcame a 23-point deficit in the first half, a 95-93 lead. Cleveland called a timeout and set up a play for James, the league's MVP who finished with 35 points.

James darted toward the basket to get some room on Turkoglu and cut back near the top of the circle before letting loose with the shot of his life.

"I was punch drunk," Williams said. "I was stuck. I couldn't move."

Officials looked at the replay to make sure it should count.

There was no doubt.

"We just couldn't afford to go down 0-2," James said. "That's just a great shot. Now we have to get ready for Game 3. There's a lot to clean up."

Rashard Lewis scored 23 points and Turkoglu had 21 for the Magic. Dwight Howard scored 10 — 20 below his Game 1 performance — and added 18 rebounds.

Williams had 19 points and Zydrunas Ilguaskas had 12 points and 15 rebounds for Cleveland.

"Wow. I seen it before, Hedo has hit big shot after big shot in the regular season and I had to match him shot for shot," James said. "Rashard Lewis hit the game-winner in Game 1 and I matched it in Game 2.

"I knew it was good," James said of his shot, "but you never know. The camera never lies and they had to go check it out."

Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy was upset with his decision to guard James on the last play.

"That one obviously hurts quite a bit," he said. "I'd like to have that last one back from a coaching standpoint. I should have defended it differently. It's crushing enough to lose as a coach, but when you feel like you're the guy who could've made the difference, it hurts a lot more.

"I just want to win and we should have won."

ORLANDO 16 28 25 26 — 95

CLEVELAND 30 26 19 21 — 96

ORLANDO—Turkoglu 9-17 1-2 21, Lewis 6-15 7-9 23, Howard 3-8 4-8 10, Alston 1-7 2-2 4, Lee 4-9 2-2 11, Johnson 2-4 1-2 5, Pietrus 4-5 0-0 10, Redick 3-4 0-0 7, Gortat 2-2 0-0 4, Battie 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-71 17-25 95.

CLEVELAND—James 12-23 10-12 35, Varejao 2-5 0-1 4, Ilgauskas 5-13 2-2 12, M.Williams 7-21 4-5 19, West 4-7 3-3 12, Smith 1-1 2-2 5, Pavlovic 4-7 0-1 9, Wallace 0-0 0-0 0, Gibson 0-0 0-0 0, Kinsey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 35-77 21-26 96.

3-Point Goals—Orlando 10-23 (Lewis 4-7, Pietrus 2-3, Turkoglu 2-4, Redick 1-2, Lee 1-3, Johnson 0-1, Alston 0-3), Cleveland 5-19 (Smith 1-1, James 1-3, Pavlovic 1-3, West 1-4, M.Williams 1-6, Ilgauskas 0-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Orlando 43 (Howard 18), Cleveland 49 (Ilgauskas 15). Assists—Orlando 16 (Johnson, Howard, Turkoglu 4), Cleveland 17 (James, M.Williams 5). Total Fouls—Orlando 25, Cleveland 24. Technicals—Gortat. A—20,562 (20,562).