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Tuesday, Jan. 25 7:30pm ET
Sura scores career-high 31 points | |||||
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 GAME FLOW
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Brevin Knight never lost his confidence, even though his shot was missing most of the night. Knight found his range just in time and Bob Sura scored a career-high 31 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers snapped a five-game losing streak Tuesday night with a 116-107 overtime win against the Detroit Pistons. Knight, who missed his first four field-goal attempts, scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and four more in overtime on 7-of-8 shooting as the Cavs rallied after blowing a 19-point lead. "The guys on the bench stayed behind me and said, 'Keep shooting, it looks like you're aiming it,"' Knight said. "Mark Hendrickson said, 'Relax and shoot the ball.' I did and they finally went in." Cleveland, playing its first home game following a disastrous 1-6 West Coast road trip, outscored the Pistons 20-11 in overtime. Despite dropping 16 of 21 before beating Detroit, the inconsistent Cavs (5-8 in January) believe the playoffs are still possible. "We had to stop our slide," Knight said. "Our goal is to finish the month 7-8. When you look up at that (standings) board we're not that far away. Not in the East where everyone is bunched together." Jerry Stackhouse, forced to carry the scoring load with star Grant Hill injured, scored a season-high 38 points for the Pistons. Hill missed his second straight game with a bruised right hip despite getting all-day treatments. Lamond Murray had 19 points -- nine in overtime -- and Shawn Kemp had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavs, who were welcomed home by just 10,930 fans, the smallest crowd in Gund Arena history. Kemp played just 23 minutes because of foul trouble. Lindsey Hunter added 17 points and Terry Mills 14 and 12 rebounds for the Pistons, who lost their fifth straight. With the scored tied 96-all, Stackhouse, who scored 24 points in the second half, missed a fadeaway jumper from the left corner at the regulation buzzer. "I had a great look," Stackhouse said. "But it just didn't go down. That's the look I wanted, it just didn't stay down." Detroit gambled by leaving Knight open, and the small point guard made them pay, hitting three straight jumpers and scoring eight straight points in a 3:11 stretch to tie it 91-all. "You play the odds and you don't expect Brevin Knight to make those shots," Stackhouse said. "And he made those shots. You have to give him credit." Sura, whose deep 3-pointer tied it at 96, scored to open the extra session and Knight's defense was responsible for Cleveland's next two baskets. He tipped away a Detroit pass before hitting a short jumper to make it 100-96, and then made a steal that Murray followed by draining a 3-pointer to put the Cavs up seven. Knight also bailed the Cavs out in the fourth quarter when they fell behind by seven points and started to hear boos. "Brevin really stepped it up," said Cavs center Mark Bryant. "Then things really came together for us. We needed someone to step up and tonight it was Brevin." After trailing by 14 to start the second half, the Pistons quickly pulled within eight after Mills hit two 3-pointers in the first four minutes. And when the Cavs failed to get out to cover him again, the 6-foot-10 Mills hit another trey to bring Detroit within 61-55. Jud Buechler's 3 cut Cleveland's lead to 67-63, and with Kemp on the bench with four fouls, the Pistons closed the quarter with a 13-1 run to open a 73-68 lead after three. Even Hill, dressed in street clothes and sitting at the end of Detroit's bench, was impressed, gingerly walking out onto the court to greeted his teammates when they came off the floor.
Game notes | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Detroit Clubhouse Cleveland Clubhouse RECAPS Indiana 93 Phoenix 87
Cleveland 116
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