Cleveland Cavaliers win after 26 attempts: Memorable games of the 2010-11 regular NBA season – Pt-3
The see-saw battle took another twist though as the Los Angeles Clippers bounced 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 Baron Davis three pointer and another buzzer beater from Blake 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.
After an exciting three and a half quarters of play, there was still no clear winner in the game. With 6:25 left on the clock, Baron Davis pinned a running bank shot to give the Los Angeles Clippers a 96-95
lead.
The sight of a deficit however infused life in the Cleveland Cavaliers ranks. Determined not to go down for the 27th time in a row, the Wine and the Gold launched an 8-2 assault midway through
the period that spurred them onto a 104-98 advantage with 3:28 to go. The Clippers, however immediately took a rear guard action to come back to level terms.
The game though had another four up and all level stretch in the ensuing minutes as J.J. Hickson fired two shots from the charity stripe to put the Wine and Gold up by 108-104. But Blake Griffin’s layup,
followed by a Baron Davis jumper tied the score at 108-apiece as both the teams refused to back down.
In Cleveland’s next possession Antawn Jamison, made the most crucial of one of his very few errors of the night as he missed a sitter to put his team ahead. Eric Bledsoe grabbed the rebound and made the ball
inbound to Baron Davis who came up an off mark three point attempt. Bledsoe however again stepped to the fore, snatching the offensive rebound and drawing a foul that earned the Clippers two crucial free throws. The rookie canned them both and handed the Clippers
a 110-108 lead with 20 seconds to go in the regulation time.
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