The Cleveland Cavaliers had this one, or so it seemed. The Cavs led after the first quarter. They led after the second quarter. They even led the New Jersey Nets after the third quarter. Basketball is a 48-minute game, however, and at the end the Nets made just enough shots to send the Wine and Gold to their 17th straight loss.
The loss is also Cleveland’s 21st in a row on the road, tying a team record. Nets C Brook Lopez hit a hook with 1.4 seconds to go that gave the Nets the 103-101 win. In a game that went back and forth down the stretch, the Cavaliers were able to tie the game at 101 when Joey Graham his a three with 7 seconds to go.
Lopez scored 28 points to lead all scorers, while Anthony Morrow added 16 points for New Jersey.
The Cavaliers were led by Antawn Jamison, who had 26 points and eight rebounds, and Daniel Gibson, who finished with 19. Gibson had a decent look at a 3 that would have won it for the Cavs but came up short.
Ramon Sessions had 16 points, J.J. Hickson 12 points and Joey Graham had 14 points for the Cavaliers who shot 45.2%. New Jersey finished at 44.6%, but hit 7-13 from deep.
Things get tough for the Cavaliers the rest of this month with road trips to Boston tomorrow night, to Orlando on Jan. 30 and Miami on Jan. 31. Their lone home game comes against the Denver Nuggets on Friday night.