RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
W YORK (AP) -- The most surprising team in the NBA turned a few more heads Wednesday night.
|  | | Bimbo Coles, right, led a balanced Cavs offense with 17 points. |
Bimbo Coles scored four of his 17 points in the final minute as the undefeated -- that's right, undefeated -- Cleveland Cavaliers
upped their record to 4-0 with a 99-97 victory over the New York
Knicks.
"I'm sure a lot of people are raising their eyebrows around the
league saying, 'Wait a minute, hold up, what's Cleveland doing?"'
forward Chris Gatling said. "We're not as bad as people perceived us to be."
Playing with the enthusiasm of a high school team, the Cavs took
the lead with 4½ minutes to play and never gave it back. This is
the first time since 1988-89 that the Cavs have started a season
with four consecutive wins.
Andre Miller and Matt Harpring added 16 points each, Lamond
Murray had 13 and Wesley Person scored 10 of his 12 in the fourth
quarter. Cleveland's reserves outscored New York's 44-15.
Allan Houston scored 25 for the Knicks but missed his final four shots and scored only two points in the fourth quarter. Glen Rice,
starting in place of the injured Latrell Sprewell (back spasms), added 23.
Cleveland still needs four more wins to match the best start in franchise history -- 8-0 by the 1976-77 team.
"The makeup of our team, we have that no-give-up attitude," Miller said. "Every game has come down to the wire, and we've pulled all of them out."
Robert Traylor put the Cavaliers ahead to stay on a left-handed
jump hook that make it 88-86, and a 3-pointer by Person -- his
second of the game after missing his first six attempts of the
season -- made it 92-86 with 2:58 left.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas gave Cleveland a 93-90 lead by making one of two free throws with 1:23 left, and the Knicks committed their
sixth turnover of the quarter on their next possession when Marcus Camby couldn't handle an entry pass.
Coles came off a screen to hit a 20-footer with 49 seconds left
for a five-point lead. Larry Johnson tipped in a miss by Houston
with 34 seconds left, but Coles hit two from the line six seconds
later.
Erick Strickland's 3-pointer with 21 seconds left made it a
two-point game, but Andrew Miller hit a pair from the line with
12.9 seconds left to all but wrap it up. Rice hit a jumper at the
final buzzer.
Cleveland won its fourth in a row against New York and snapped
the Knicks' three-game winning streak.
"We're making far too many defensive mistakes," New York coach
Jeff Van Gundy said. "We're trying to be an offensive team, and
we've already lost two games at home because we didn't guard in
either game."
The Cavaliers had an 18-5 run to begin the second quarter,
turning a 27-21 deficit into a 39-32 lead on a 3-pointer by
Harpring. Johnson hit a 3-pointer for New York, making him 5-for-5
from the field, to give the Knicks a 49-47 lead.
New York led for most of the third period but never by more than
five, and the Cavs finally went ahead with 6:10 left in the fourth
on a leaning jumper by Person.
Game notes
Knicks guard Chris Childs bruised his hamstring when he
collided with Camby in the second quarter. He did not return. ...
New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine sat on celebrity row and drew
more cheers than boos. Seated together a couple chairs down were
former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino and comedian Adam
Sandler. ... With Chicago's consecutive sellout streak ending
Tuesday night, the Knicks now have the longest such streak in the
league (350). ... The Cavs and Knicks won't play each other again
until March 13.
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NBA Scoreboard
Cleveland Clubhouse
New York Clubhouse
RECAPS
Indiana 108
Milwaukee 97
Philadelphia 103
Detroit 94
New Jersey 102
Washington 86
Miami 87
Seattle 81
Cleveland 99
New York 97
Charlotte 96
Orlando 90
Vancouver 101
Dallas 74
San Antonio 91
LA Lakers 81
Denver 109
Minnesota 107
Utah 93
LA Clippers 87
Sacramento 115
Golden State 84
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