The reeling Cleveland Cavaliers tied a franchise record with their 21st straight road loss Monday, an excruciating 103-101 setback to the New Jersey Nets.
New Jersey's Brook Lopez scored 28 points, including the game-winning bucket with 1.4 seconds left that sent Cleveland to its 17th consecutive loss overall.
Cleveland's Daniel Gibson had a shot to win it at the buzzer, but his 3-pointer from the left corner bounced off the back of the rim.
The road slide matches the longest in club history set in the 2002-03 season, a couple of months before Cleveland drafted LeBron James. The overall skid is two shy of the team single-season record set in the 1981-82 campaign.
Antawn Jamison scored 26 points, Gibson had 19 and Ramon Sessions had 16 for the Cavaliers, who have dropped 27 of 28. This one may have hurt the most.
The Cavs scored 52 points in the paint and led most of the night but stopped attacking the basket and started settling for jumpers over the final eight minutes as the Nets rallied to win for the third time in four games. The teams entered as the worst in the Eastern Conference but put on a good show.
Devin Harris had 14 points and 10 assists for the Nets. Jordan Farmar and Kris Humphries each scored 11 points off the bench.
Cleveland | Brooklyn | |
Antawn Jamison 26 | Scoring | Brook Lopez 28 |
Ramon Sessions 6 | Assists | Devin Harris 10 |
J.J. Hickson 8 | Rebounds | Kris Humphries 11 |
Antawn Jamison 10 | Free Throws Made | Brook Lopez 8 |
Christian Eyenga 1 | Steals | Jordan Farmar 2 |
Ryan Hollins 1 | Blocks | Derrick Favors 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Cleveland | 101 | 45.2 | 5-14 | 20-24 | 18 | 41 | 2 | 6 | 16 |
Brooklyn | 103 | 44.6 | 7-13 | 22-29 | 24 | 40 | 7 | 6 | 10 |