NBA

Regular Season Round 70: Denver N. - Cleveland C. 99-100

Date: March 7, 2012
Kyrie Irving reminded Ty Lawson and the Nuggets what it feels like to be on the other end of a big shot. Irving made a driving layup with four seconds left to cap a seesaw battle in the final minutes, and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat Denver 100-99 on Wednesday night. Irving scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, all in the last 2:36 of the game, and Antawn Jamison had 33 to help the Cavaliers snap a six-game losing streak. “Kyrie down the stretch, it speaks for itself,” Jamison said. “He single-handedly won the game for us.” It wasn’t easy. Neither team could pull away in the fourth quarter. Denver scored the first six points to go ahead 78-76 and the lead changed hands nine times in the final 2:36, with the point guards staging a personal duel down the stretch. Lawson, who made the decisive baskets in wins over San Antonio and Sacramento in the last week, had five of his 18 points in the finishing flurry to give Denver a 95-94 lead. Irving had two three-point plays and a driving layup to put Cleveland up 98-97 with 24 seconds left. He saved his best for the final seconds. After Nene muscled in a layup over rookie Tristan Thompson with 15 seconds left to give Denver a 99-98 lead, Irving took the inbounds pass in the backcourt, raced up the floor into the lane and made the go-ahead basket. “I tried to deny him the ball. He got a head of steam, got me on his hip and took it all the way,” Arron Afflalo said. “We would like to first keep him in front of us and if he does get by us have some help in protecting the basket. Neither one was done. You expect on the game-winning layup someone swats on the ball.” Irving said he took Afflalo’s defense as a challenge. “He picked me up fullcourt and I take it as a test when people pick me up fullcourt,” Irving said. “The lane opened up when I got down there, it was a tough shot, but my teammates willed it in.” After a timeout, Lawson got the ball at the top of the key with Irving guarding him. Despite having five fouls, Irving played aggressive defense and forced Lawson into a tough layup that he missed at the buzzer. “I got a step on him and I seen him try to time the shot,” Lawson said. “I tried to step in and get him off balance. I didn’t have enough lift to finish it. It hit the rim, but it’s one of those shots I need to make.” Despite 22 points from Al Harrington and 16 from Andre Miller, Denver had its four-game win streak snapped. “Just keep moving forward. There’s too many games to worry about one,” Lawson said. The game was tied in the third quarter before Alonzo Gee scored the next seven points to give Cleveland a 72-65 edge. The Cavs led by four heading into the fourth after Daniel Gibson’s 3-pointer was ruled after the horn. Gee finished with 19. Jamison was the biggest reason for Cleveland leading 57-55 at the break. The forward scored 14 in the first quarter to keep the Cavaliers close, then had 12 more in the second when they overcame a nine-point deficit. Trailing 41-32, Jamison hit two jumpers and a pair of free throws to get the margin to 45-42 midway through the second. Gee tied it with a layup, Anthony Parker hit a 3 and Jamison scored four more points during a 23-8 run that gave Cleveland a 55-49 lead. “It wasn’t really forced, it came natural and I was able to get quality shots,” Jamison said. Harrington had 12 points off the bench to lead Denver in the first half. *Courtesy of Yahoo! Sports
  CLEVELAND C. (coach: Kenny Atkinson)100
  FIELD GOALS REBOUNDS   FOULS   BLOCKS  
#   NAME MIN 2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OFF DEF RB AS F RV ST FV AG TO PT RNK +/-
3 ziBasIj, SjUiTj 49 2-60 (04.4%) 4-1 (05%) 2-7 (22.7%) 8 9 7 6 3 5 5 5 5 6 44 89 5
8 oQLajD, KFQaR 44 2-64 (16.0%) 5-4 (5%) 8-8 (655%) 6 3 0 2 0 5 4 5 5 4 62 62 5
44 GRR, SlIjJI 48 1-7 (11.9%) 6-4 (44.4%) 3-1 (11.9%) 6 1 9 4 8 5 3 6 5 4 67 88 5
62 OiQVRQ, SjUhIjF 82 6-3 (80%) 6-6 (655%) 5-5 (5%) 5 8 8 6 8 5 5 5 5 6 0 8 5
64 whIBpsIj, wQasUij 80 6-8 (05%) 5-5 (5%) 6-8 (05%) 5 4 4 8 6 5 6 5 5 5 4 1 5
4 ARssaIjs, eiBIj 86 8-0 (35%) 5-8 (5%) 8-8 (655%) 5 5 5 0 6 5 6 5 5 8 1 3 5
6 GaMsIj, gijaRl 67 6-3 (80%) 6-0 (85%) 5-5 (5%) 5 8 8 8 8 5 6 5 5 5 0 6 5
0 HIllajs, eFij 62 6-8 (05%) 5-5 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 5 6 6 6 0 5 6 5 5 6 8 -8 5
62 Cisspa, PBQa 61 6-6 (655%) 6-4 (44.4%) 5-5 (5%) 5 0 0 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 0 0 5
83 AiBuRls, AiBiQdI 66 6-3 (80%) 5-5 (5%) 8-8 (655%) 6 5 6 5 6 5 5 5 5 8 3 -6 5
7 qQdRj, ARBah  gXO - CIiZh's gRZasaIj
69 kiQRniI, SjdRQsIj  gXO - CIiZh's gRZasaIj
  HiQQas, bijjF 5 5-5 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 5 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 5
wIUil   45-07 (05.7%) 9-84 (45.3%) 67-84 (28.1%) 0 46 41 84 81 5 66 6 5 64 655 24  


  DENVER N. (coach: David Adelman)99
  FIELD GOALS REBOUNDS   FOULS   BLOCKS  
#   NAME MIN 2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OFF DEF RB AS F RV ST FV AG TO PT RNK +/-
4 viTsIj, wF 36 0-65 (05%) 6-3 (80%) 0-0 (655%) 5 0 0 1 6 5 8 6 5 9 62 61 5
1 SfflilI, SQQIj 35 4-0 (15%) 6-4 (44.4%) 3-1 (11.9%) 6 6 8 4 6 5 5 5 5 5 64 66 5
9 HiQQajDUIj, Sl 44 7-63 (13.4%) 6-1 (61.9%) 6-8 (05%) 8 1 2 6 8 5 6 5 5 8 88 69 5
83 ballRQ, SjdQR 83 0-9 (96.3%) 5-5 (5%) 1-1 (655%) 6 6 8 3 8 5 5 5 5 3 61 63 5
46 XRjR, HaliQaI 88 0-65 (05%) 5-5 (5%) 4-0 (15%) 8 4 0 6 3 5 8 6 5 3 64 9 5
2 GillajiQa, gijalI 88 5-3 (5%) 6-4 (44.4%) 8-8 (655%) 5 3 3 8 8 5 6 5 5 5 0 3 5
40 yiQaRd, KRjjRUh 85 8-8 (655%) 5-5 (5%) 6-8 (05%) 8 9 7 5 3 5 5 5 5 5 0 7 5
64 mQRTRQ, CIQRF 85 8-1 (44.4%) 5-3 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 6 4 3 0 6 5 5 5 5 5 3 3 5
66 SjdRQsRj, ChQas 62 5-4 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 4-3 (90%) 6 1 9 6 8 5 6 4 5 5 4 7 5
80 bIJDIL, waBIfRF  gXO - CIiZh's gRZasaIj
36 KIufIs, KIsUis  gXO - CIiZh's gRZasaIj
  HiBalUIj, zIQdij  gXO - CIiZh's gRZasaIj
  AUIjR, zulFij  gXO - CIiZh's gRZasaIj
wIUil   46-16 (05.2%) 3-85 (85.5%) 80-48 (92.6%) 65 41 31 84 67 5 9 0 5 69 77 76  



Terms:
Field Goals :  2PM-A  (2 point Field Goal made-attempts)     3PM-A  (3 point Field Goal made-attempts)   FTM-A (free throws made-attempt)
Rebounds : OFF (Offensive)  DEF (Defensive)   TOT  (total)
Fouls : CM (Committed)  RV (received)
Blocks : FV (In Favor)  AG (Against)
Other terms : MIN (minutes)  AST (assists)  ST (steals)   TO (Turnovers)   PTS (points)  RNK (ranking)