The Cleveland Cavaliers were without LeBron James, but they overcame an early 15-point deficit to give the fans a gritty, hard-fought 113-108 overtime victory over the Washington Wizards on Fan Appreciation Night in the season finale.
The Wizards were down one with 10.1 seconds left when Martell Webster failed to get the ball in bounds and was called for a five-second violation out of a timeout.
Matthew Dellavedova, who scored seven points in the extra five minutes, was fouled on the ensuing possession and knocked down both free throws to give the Cavaliers a three-point lead with nine seconds remaining.
Washington (46-36) had one more chance. They got the ball in bounds this time and Webster caught it and tried to make a cross-court pass, but Shawn Marion intercepted it and took it the other way for a one-handed jam to seal the win.
The whole team rushed towards Marion and jumped on him as he fell to the floor. Confetti fell from the ceiling in a particularly joyful way to end the season.
James was given the night off as part of David Blatt’s end-of-season maintenance approach. In his absence, Kevin Love took upon himself to take over the scoring load.
After Washington built their sizable first-quarter lead, Cleveland (53-29) remained calm and fed their stretch-four big man. Love erupted for 19 first-half points and was 5-for-6 from three-point range. His teammates also looked for him in the paint and he delivered one of his patented baby hooks. He pulled down three rebounds in 18 minutes of play.
James joked before the game that he would vote Love for MVP if he had a selection. On Wednesday Love was indeed the MVP — in the first 24 minutes.
Love, Kyrie Irving, JR Smith and Timofey Mozgov did not play in the second half. That was by design. What was achieved was sustaining a level of continuity and rhythm, while avoiding injuries. It’s a delicate balance the team has been juggling for a week and they’ve finally made it through unscathed.
Cleveland’s bench finished the game off as Iman Shumpert supplied 18 points and six boards and Tristan Thompson produced 12 points and seven rebounds. Dellavedova chipped in 18 points and tied his career-high of 12 assists.
The Wizards were missing 80 percent of their starting lineup with John Wall, Bradley Beal, Paul Pierce and Nene all resting. Washington was fresh off of a double overtime affair the night before.
Webster led the Wizards with 20 points each, but had two crucial turnovers down the stretch that caused their demise.
There wasn’t a heavy dose of star power, but the fans sure were engaged and energetic while they sported their white Cavaliers T-shirts provided by the team. They’re in playoff mode.
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