CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Free throws have been an issue for the Cleveland Cavaliers lately. Not Friday night.
With the crowd roaring, the Cavaliers trailing by one and just 1.2 seconds remaining in the game, veteran Kevin Love hushed the arena, calmly drilling a pair of free throws to give Cleveland a wild 102-101 win over the Charlotte Hornets.
Love’s two makes saved the Cavs from a late-game gagging. The Cavs led by 17 points in the second half. They were ahead by 10 with five minutes remaining. And then … things got weird.
On the Hornets’ ensuing offensive possession, while the two teams battled for a rebound, the whistle blew, with the referee signaling that Cavs forward Dean Wade was out of bounds as the ball bounced off his forehead. Only play continued. Sort of.
As Charlotte’s Terry Rozier grabbed the ball and attempted to launch a corner 3-pointer, multiple Cavs players stepped on the court to playfully prevent it, apparently thinking the play was over. Reserve Ed Davis, who never entered the game, was called for a technical foul because he reached over the boundary line and made contact with Rozier. The 3-pointer somehow counted despite the stoppage coming before the possible shot attempt — and the ball not actually going in the basket.
While Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff was irate, he had already used his challenge. All he could do was shake his head.
“There were some uncontrollables out there, but I thought we did a great job of controlling the things that we could control and bringing the game to the mud,” Bickerstaff said.
That four-point possession — Rozier’s “made” triple and a free throw — cut Cleveland’s lead to just six points with 4:44 remaining.
“It was miscommunication amongst the crew about the sequence of the play,” Crew chief Brian Forte said following the game. “Upon review after the game, the out of bounds was called prior to the start of the field goal attempt and the shot should not have counted.”
The Hornets kept surging, trimming Cleveland’s lead to three with about two minutes left. Eventually, they pulled in front by three at the 46-second mark. But the Cavs scored the final four — Jarrett Allen’s putback and Love’s two free throws, which came as a result of a Rozier foul. Even that play in the final few seconds was bizarre and controversial.
After fill-in point guard Brandon Goodwin, making his second straight start in Darius Garland’s absence, missed a jumper with 2.1 seconds left, Love grabbed the offensive rebound and appeared to miss the follow. The whistle was barely audible inside a lively Spectrum Center. But officials reviewed the play and called Rozier for a foul. Charlotte coach James Borrego then challenged that the foul occurred before Love’s upward shooting motion — as the Hornets were not over the foul limit yet, Love would not have gotten to the foul line.
Borrego lost the challenge. Love drilled the free throws and smirked at the furious crowd.
“Those are things that you dream about when you’re young,” Love said of his clutch free throws. “I just put myself in that type of mindset. Know that I have the trust of my teammates. Our free throws have been a little bit of our Achilles heel the last maybe two weeks, maybe slightly less, slightly more. But I just wanted to knock ‘em down and give ourselves a chance to make a play at the end of the game on defense and get out here alive, with a win.”
As the Cavs came to the bench during the Hornets’ timeout, each player held up one finger, signaling that one defensive stop was all they needed. The Hornets tried an inbound alley-oop with 1.2 seconds left, but Gordon Hayward’s pass to Miles Bridges hit the front of the rim and bounced away. Bridges thought he was fouled. No whistle this time.
It could have been a crushing Cavs loss. Instead, it was a gutty, galvanizing win — the kind that has become synonymous with this group.
Love finished with 25 points and nine rebounds. Twenty-two of those points came in a scorching second half.
Allen, meanwhile, played like a guy with something to prove. One night after getting snubbed from the All-Star team, Allen helped set the tone with his energy, effort and physicality.
Cleveland’s center, in the midst of a career season, scored the team’s first nine points. He had 13 of its first 18. Allen was the first player to reach double figures, getting to that mark less than eight minutes into the game. At the end of his first 10-minute stint, Allen had 13 points, nine rebounds and an assist. Those nine boards tied his career-high for a single quarter. By the end of the first half, Allen already had a double-double.
Allen ended with a career-high 29 points and 22 rebounds in 34 minutes, fighting through a minor knee injury that led to him limping to the bench and requiring a extended look from the training staff in the second quarter.
“This was Jarrett’s message to his teammates that he was going to go out and he was going to impact the game,” Bickerstaff said. “We’ve talked about it time and again. We follow Jarrett. Our guys will follow his effort and his heart. It’s a different leadership style, but he leads us that way.”
For much of the night, the Cavs were holding one of the league’s best offenses in check. But the Hornets, first in scoring and fifth in offensive rating, erupted for 36 points in the fourth quarter, putting a charge back into the crowd. Rozier led the way with 24. Kelly Oubre Jr. chipped in with 21. LaMelo Ball, who dealt with foul trouble most of the night, had 15 points.
Hayward, playing his first game since Jan. 21 because of COVID-19 protocols and conditioning concerns, struggled. He missed 10 of his 13 shot attempts.
At the conclusion of Thursday’s practice on the campus of Rice University, before the team charter left for Charlotte, the Cavs spent extra time on free throws. Bickerstaff wanted to get his team’s attention, so he raised the stakes, putting a little money on the line for the winner.
No one would say who won. But Love certainly cashed in Friday.
Up next
The Cavs will return home to host the Indiana Pacers on Sunday evening. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
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