Maurice James rarely ever tried a last second jumper to win a game for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He never had to. They had someone by the name of LeBron James who used to do that for them. But with him no longer in the Cavaliers
ranks, Maurice Williams stepped up to the plate in style.
The 6ft 1” guard lunged over the out stretched hands of Brandon Jennings as he nailed in a 15 footer right into the hearts of the Milwaukee Bucks at the buzzer to lift the Cleveland Cavaliers to their sixth win of the season.
Williams finished with a match high 25 points shooting 11 for 22 with 5 assists and four boards as Cleveland snapped a three match losing streak.
Anthony Parker and Daniel Gibson were the other two players in double figures for the Cavaliers. Parker chipped in with 14 points while Gibson finished with 12 points off the bench as the Cavaliers continued their impressive run
against the Bucks.
The Milwaukee Bucks had the upper hand right throughout the first half but the Cavaliers came back from 10 down in the break to stun the Bucks.
The match generally hung in the balance in the first quarter with both teams clawing back at each other, neither willing to hand over the advantage. Though the Bucks generally led through the period, Cleveland always remained within
striking distance as it finished at 22-19 in favor of the Bucks.
The Cavaliers kept a tight check on the progress of the Bucks going into the second quarter as well and a Jamario Moon dunk shot reduced the deficit to 28-30 five minutes into the quarter.
At that point, the Bucks cut loose and sprinted to a 11-2 run within a span of four minutes to bust open an 11 point lead at 41-30, their biggest of the match. The teams went to the locker room with the score poised at 44-34.
Cleveland entered the second half on a high and the third quarter witnessed the Cavaliers spark a resurgence with a 12-2 run midway through the period. The Bucks stalled the Cavaliers advance somewhat though as the teams entered
the fourth half with the Bucks still leading 68-65.
The Bucks kept the Cavaliers at bay at the start of the final quarter but a Maurice Williams jump shot with 4:24 left on the clock, making it all square at 77. Williams who scored all the eight Cleveland points in the final five
minutes of the game then put the Cavaliers in the lead 81-79 with 3:02 to go but Drew Gooden drew Milwaukee level with two free throws.
The match went scoreless for the next 2:39 minutes as both the teams’ squandered chance after chance till the magic moment arrived at the buzzer with Maurice William’s audacious 15-foot jumper finding its target and handing the
victory to the Cavaliers.
Keyon Dooling came off the bench to lead the charge for the Bucks with team-highs of 18 points and five assists while John Salmons netted 14 points and Luc Mbah a Moute finished with 10 points and 9 rebounds but their efforts could
not stop the Milwaukee Bucks from slumping to their fourth consecutive loss.
Tags: