Cleveland Cavaliers nip the losing streak at 26; Down the Los Angeles Clippers in O.T. (Part – 2)
In the high paced match, the Cleveland Cavaliers needed all the help they could get to salvage a win.
They had lots of it on Friday night.
In the dying moments of the fourth quarter, Baron Davis had a chance to finish the game. He was stopped short from doing so though as the Cavaliers centre J.J. Hickson committed a goaltending violation on his short jumper. The
officials, however, refused to give the deserved leverage to the Los Angeles Clippers, ruling Hickson's block legal and the teams headed to overtime tied at 110-110.
Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said afterwards.
"I thought it was goaltending," he said. "They (the officials) didn't think it was. They can't review it because it wasn't a call that was made. I'll have to look at the film. I couldn't see from that angle. It looked like it got
on the glass, but I'm guessing."
J.J. Hickson and Antawn Jamison were in the thick of things from the very start. The duo combined for the first 17 Cavaliers’ points in the first quarter as the teams’ maintained parity.
The Clippers though were the first one to break away. It all started with a DeAndre Jordan alley oop dunk shot with 5:36 to go. Griffin was quick to follow it with another signature stamp and the Clippers were off and running with
11-4 spurt that was capped by another jam from Jordan.
The Clippers carried a seven point lead into the last two minutes of the frame, but the Cavaliers managed to slash the deficit to one as they scored on four consecutive possession. The final outcome of the first phase though was
33-29 in the favour of the visitors as Griffin pulled off a buzzer beating trey.
The Cavaliers remained in touch with the Clippers in the early part of the second quarter, closing in on a two point gap thrice before Ike Diego scored 4 straight to again increase the Clippers advantage. The Cavaliers however
rallied back with an 8-0 run that handed them back the lead for the first time since the first five minutes of the game.
The see-saw battle took another twist though as the Clippers pounced back to restore a two point advantage immediately. The Cavs however sprung back to gain a 4 point lead going into the last ten seconds of the first half before
a Davis three pointer and another buzzer beater from Griffin propelled the Clippers to a 53-52 advantage, going into the break.
In the third quarter, the Cavaliers entered with all guns blazing as they launched a barrage of jumpers and dunk shots. The Clippers on the other hand, countered their surge with pin-point accuracy from beyond the arc as the game
remained suspended in a deadlock. The lead changed hands 8 times and the scores were tied four times in the third quarter alone, as the Cavs carved out an 83-81 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Staring at a two point deficit coming into the fourth period, the Clippers keyed by Griffin and Eric Bledsoe outscored the Cavs, 8-4 in the first three minutes to retain a two point advantage. Bledsoe returned for a three point
play minutes later but a spate of consecutive shots by Hickson at the other end of the court ensured that Cavaliers lead by 95-94 at the midway mark.
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