CLEVELAND, Ohio – Finally.
After a month of misery, the Cleveland Cavaliers had reason to celebrate and ended their 10-game losing streak by beating the Atlanta Hawks 112-111. It was an unlikely hero who delivered the much-needed get-right moment.
Unwritten rookie Lamar Stevens, who played on a two-party contract and fights to prove he belongs in the league, spoke about his signature NBA moment less than a week ago. Forget that. He has one now. A game-winning dunk with 4.1 seconds left on the clock, keeping the Cavaliers from wasting a 13-point lead in the first half, coming back from a five-point deficit with three minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
Darius Garland’s costly turnover with about 30 seconds to go seemed to be the crushing mistake the Cavs could not overcome. But Trae Young was chased on the sidelines near the Cleveland bench, forcing the Hawks to call their final time-out and giving JB Bickerstaff a chance to switch a late forward defense, calling Stevens.
After the brief hiatus, Young missed one of his patented floaters, Stevens collected the rebound, quickly threw the ball to Collin Sexton, and sprinted onto the floor. Sexton took off, hired several defenders, and went to Stevens for an unquestioned dunk. With no timeouts, the Hawks scrambled around before the clock ran out.
Stevens the dunk. Sexton, who labeled Tuesday’s game as a game you must win, the assist. Just the way the Cavs set it up, right?
Hey, whatever it takes.
“The best thing about that game is that if you go up and down the statistics sheet, literally everyone who played contributed to winning that game,” said Bickerstaff. “That made it even better and even sweeter, although they all taste sweet at the moment.”
Sexton had not been selected as an NBA All-Star hours earlier, scoring 29 points in the game on 9-of-16 shots and 3-of-5 from the 3-point range with five assists. Garland came in with 17 and 8 helpers. Dylan Windler came off the couch and poured in 15 points on a perfect 5-of-5 from deep. Stevens had eight points – none bigger than the riveting bucket that led to him being harassed by his teammates all the way through the tunnel leading to the locker room.
“He has earned the respect of the coaching staff and his teammates,” said Bickerstaff. “Every minute he gets is deserved and I think that’s the most important thing. He does not receive anything. At the beginning of this year, he received nothing. He worked his tail off to show that he deserved it and that he deserved it. I think that’s why he’s being rewarded for it. “
At one point during the match, teammates Kevin Love and Larry Nance Jr. playful on the sidelines. It was such a night. Both injured powerforwards, who might have been lying on the floor instead, exploded when Stevens threw down his dunk. They were the fastest to greet the boy as soon as the buzzer sounded.
The Cavs have repeatedly run off track with a dejected look lately. That finally changed on Tuesday evening. The burst of joy was 22 long days in the making.
Interested spectator
Matthew Dellavedova, who has not played this season due to a serious concussion and recently underwent appendectomy, was sitting on the couch for the first time. Dellavedova, still walking a little cautiously, gave tips to Cleveland’s young guards throughout the game and celebrated on the sidelines.
Early departure
Atlanta Hawks forward John Collins, who received a hard blow to the head in the first half, was replaced by Danilo Gallinari at the start of the third quarter. Collins was ruled out for concussion evaluation. He finished with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting to go with three rebounds and one assist in 13 minutes.
Next one
The Cavs will complete their home stand on Wednesday-evening and the Houston Rockets will play back-to-back on the second night. Tipoff is set at 7:30 pm
New Cavs Face Masks For Sale: Here you can buy Cleveland Cavaliers themed face covers for coronavirus protection, including a single mask ($ 14.99) and a 3-pack ($ 24.99). All proceeds from the NBA are donated to charity.
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