The losing streak is finally over for the Cleveland Cavaliers(11-21). After ten straight losses, Cleveland was able to breakthrough in a thrilling fashion against the Atlanta Hawks(13-18).
With the team trailing by one late in the game, rookie Lamar Stephens hammered home the game-winning dunk with 4.1 seconds left to give Cleveland a 112-111 win over Atlanta at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Tuesday night.
After the game, Stephens, who said this was his first game-winning shot on any level, described what happened on the game-winning play.
“About the last play, it goes into what coach said to us from day one,” Stephens said. “We want to be the hardest playing team; we want to be the most unselfish team every single night, and I think that goes to Collin(Sexton), being the leading scoring, a guy, a lot of guys look to. He trusted me with the ball, so I just wanted to be aggressive for my teammates, and I think he made an unselfish play, and I was able to get an open lane to go finish the basket.”
Cleveland had five players in double-figures led by Collin Sexton’s 29 points, and according to Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, Tuesday’s win was a total team effort.
“The best part of that game is when you go up and down the stat sheet, literally everybody who played contributed to winning that game tonight,” Bickerstaff said. “So, that’s what made it even better and even sweeter. Although, they all taste sweet at this point.”
Bickerstaff was also happy about rookie Isaac Okoro’s defense, who held Hawks star Trae Young to 9-27 from the field.
“You look at what Isaac(Okoro) was able to do with Trae Young, forcing him to 9 for 27 shooting,” he said. “I think it was individuals who took a team challenge, and collectively, we got the job done.”
Everyone contributed to this win, and that is what Cleveland needed to break the losing streak. Now, they hope to make a new streak when they battle the Rockets at home on Wednesday night.
Notes:
Despite the poor shooting, Young led Atlanta with 28 points on Tuesday night.
Cleveland got 40 points from its bench against the Hawks, and were led by Dylan Windler, who had 15 points, including 5-5 from three-point range.
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