Cleveland: The Cleveland Cavaliers snapped their 26-game losing streak with a 126-119 overtime win over the Los Angeles Clippers to the delight of a raucous home crowd on Friday.
The Cavs recorded their first win since a December 18 overtime victory over the New York Knicks and avoided becoming the sole holder of the record for the longest losing streak in any of North America's four major sports.
"It's kind of bittersweet," Cavaliers coach Byron Scott told reporters. "I'm glad that it's over with. But with about a minute left in the game, I looked up and said, ‘If we'd have played this hard the last game, we would have won.'"
"It's great that we finally got the monkey off our backs, but I expect our guys to play this hard every single night. If we do that, then we'll be okay."
Daniel Gibson scored nine of his 17 points in the overtime period. His three-pointer with 3:23 remaining gave the Cavaliers the lead for good and he closed out the victory by hitting all six of his free throw attempts.
"I can smile again. It feels pretty good," Gibson added. "Winning is a precious feeling."
RESULTS
INDIANA 116 Minnesota 105
New Orleans 99 ORLANDO 93
P'DELPHIA 77 San Antonio 71
Portland 102 TORONTO 96
New Jersey 94 CHARLOTTE 89
CLEVELAND 126 LA Clippers 119
Miami 106 DETROIT 92
LA Lakers 113 NY KNICKS 96
MEMPHIS 89 Milwaukee 86
Phoenix 95 UTAH 83
home team in CAPS
