CLEVELAND, Ohio – Finally.
After a month of misery, the Cleveland Cavaliers had reason to celebrate, ending their 10-game losing streak by beating the Atlanta Hawks 112-111. It was an unlikely hero who delivered the much-needed moment of recovery.
The unknown newcomer Lamar Stevens, who played on a two-way contract and fought to prove he belongs in the league, spoke less than a week ago about the fact that he did not yet have his NBA signature. Forget it. He now has one. A game-winning dunk with 4.1 seconds on the clock prevented the Cavaliers from squandering a 13-point lead in the first half, and they fell back from a five-point deficit by three minutes in the fourth term.
Darius Garland’s costly turnover with about 30 seconds left was the crushing mistake the Cavs could not overcome. But Trae Young is being chased to the sidelines, near Cleveland’s bench, which forced the Hawks to call out their final timeout and gave JB Bickerstaff the chance to make a late defensive replacement, asking Stevens.
After the short stop, Young misses one of his patented drivers, Stevens collects the rebound, quickly throws the ball to Collin Sexton and jumps to the floor. Sexton started, pulled several defenders and passed to Stevens for an undisputed driver. Outside the timeout, the Hawks scurried around before the clock expired.
Stevens the dunk. Sexton, who described Tuesday’s game as a must-win game, is the help. Just when the Cavs set it up, right?
Hi, whatever it takes.
“The best part of the game is when you go on the stat-up, literally everyone who played contributed to winning the game,” Bickerstaff said. “That’s what made it even better and even sweeter, although at this point they all taste sweet.”
Sexton had not been selected as an NBA All-Star hours before, but scored a game-high 29 points on 9-of-16 shooting and 3-out-5 from a three-point series to give up five assistants. Garland hacked with 17 and eight helpers. Dylan Windler came off the bench and threw 15 points on a perfect 5-out-5 from deep. Stevens had eight points – nothing bigger than the complicated bucket that led to him being stripped by his teammates into the tunnel to the locker room.
“He deserved the respect of the coaching staff and his teammates,” Bickerstaff said. ‘Every moment he gets is deserving, and I think that’s the most important thing. He is not handed anything. At the beginning of the year, nothing was given to him. He trimmed his tail to show that he deserved it and that he deserved it. I think that’s why he’s rewarded for it. ”
At one point during the game, teammates Kevin Love and Larry Nance Jr. playfully wrestled on the sidelines. It was that kind of night. Both injured power forwards, who would rather be on Stevens’ place on the floor, exploded when Stevens dropped his dunk. They were the fastest to greet the young man as soon as the buzzer rang.
The Cavs have repeatedly walked off the court lately. That finally changed Tuesday night. The outburst of joy was 22 long days in the making.
Interested spectator
Matthew Dellavedova, who has yet to play this season due to a severe concussion and recently underwent appendectomy, was on the bench for the first time. Dellavedova, who still walks a bit of ginger, gave tips to Cleveland’s young guards throughout the game and celebrated on the sidelines.
Early exit
Atlanta Hawks forward John Collins, who hit a hard head in the first half, was replaced at the beginning of the third quarter by Danilo Gallinari. Collins was excluded for concussion evaluation. He finished with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting to go with three rebounds and one assist in 13 minutes.
Following
The Cavs will close out their home field on Wednesday night and play the Houston Rockets on the second night of a rugby game. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
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New Cavs face masks for sale: Here you can buy Cleveland Cavaliers-themed face masks for coronavirus protection, including a single mask ($ 14.99) and a 3-pack ($ 24.99). All NBA proceeds are donated to charity.
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