Cavaliers Fall Just Short of Mark for Futility
By JONATHAN ABRAMS
CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers traded for Antawn Jamison, hoping he would one day hit a big shot, while the Quicken Loans Arena crowd roared, danced and cheered. On Friday, it happened. Jamison made his biggest one as a Cavalier, although it came late by a few months, a lot of losses and one noteworthy summer defection.
Jamison’s 3-pointer with 22 seconds left in overtime lifted the Cavaliers to a 126-119 win against the Los Angeles Clippers.
“Probably the biggest 3 that I’ve had, due to the situation, the scenario, just the importance of getting a win for the morale of this team and these fans,” Jamison said.
The Cavaliers finally ended their nearly two-month losing streak at 26 games, as wine and gold colored confetti drifted from the ceiling and “Cleveland Rocks” played on the public address system. Jamario Moon clutched the ball and held it in his arms while his teammates clapped hands and the fans, many of whom had faithfully supported the team through the drought, exhaled and cheered.
Cleveland’s previous victory came a week before Christmas, also in overtime, against the Knicks. Before Friday night, it was Cleveland’s only victory in 37 games.
“We got on a bad skid and it just kept rolling,” Coach Byron Scott said. “It snowballed.”
Instead of establishing a new record for futility, the Cavaliers will be side by side in infamy with the 1976-77 Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the N.F.L. for the longest losing streak among North America’s four major professional sports.
During the skid, the Cavaliers lost by as little as 1 point and by as many as 55.
Cleveland, the N.B.A.’s leader in wins last season, desperately needed a victory against the Clippers, a traditional laughingstock.
“There could have been high school players out there and I still would have been motivated to get a win,” said the Cavaliers’ J. J. Hickson, who was matched against Blake Griffin, the Clippers’ celebrated rookie, for much of the game.
Daniel Gibson scored 7 points in overtime, including a 3-pointer that gave the Cavaliers the lead for good at 114-112. The Clippers drew within a point, at 120-119, on Randy Foye’s 3-pointer with 44 seconds left. But Jamison’s 3-pointer pushed the Cavaliers further away again.
Jamison, whom the Cavaliers obtained before last season’s trading deadline to pair with LeBron James, had 35 points and 9 rebounds. Hickson added 27 points and 14 rebounds.
Point guard Mo Williams returned from a hip injury sustained on Jan. 15. His absence only worsened already extenuating circumstances: James’s decision to leave for Miami and other key departures and injuries, most notably season-ending ankle surgery to center Anderson Varejao.
The return of Williams, a former All-Star, helped steady a team that has used a league-high 19 starting lineups. Williams came off the bench in his return, and his 3-pointer with 3 minutes 27 seconds left in regulation provided the Cavaliers with a 6-point lead, their largest to that point. The Clippers rallied to take a brief lead on free throws by Eric Bledsoe.
Williams’s jumper with 6.3 seconds left in regulation tied the score, 110-110, and Hickson blocked Baron Davis’s attempt to win the game in regulation. The Cavaliers retreated to their bench while Davis complained that goaltending should have been called.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/12/sport ... ?src=twrhp
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