Stevens Slam ends Ten Game skid!

  Undrafted rookie Lamar Stevens took a pass from Collin Sexton and drove an open late for a two-fisted slam with four seconds to remaining to give the Cleveland Cavaliers a 112-111 win at home over the Atlanta Hawks.

With the Cavaliers down by one with twelve seconds to go, Stevens grabbed a missed Trae Young shot and pitched it to Collin Sexton, who began to work his way up court as Cleveland eschewed a set play off a timeout.

Sexton shoveled the ball to Stevems with Sexton's path blocked by an Atlanta double-team with Stevens cruising by a either indifferent or surprised Trae Young to reach the basket for the jam.

Atlanta did not have a timeout remaining and with the Cavaliers closely guarding Young, Young had little to but to pass the ball and the Hawks were unable to get the shot off before the buzzer.

The win snaps a ten game Cleveland losing streak and gives the Cavaliers a chance for two home wins in a row against struggling Houston tonight in Clevelamd.

Collin Sexton led Cleveland with 29 points, Darius Garland had 17, and Dylan Windler played well off the bench with fifteen points off five made three-pointers.

Swashbucklings

1) The Cavaliers almost lost this game on the possession before the Lamar Stevens dunk.

Down by one, Darius Garland tried to go one on one against Atlanta's Kevin Huerter, who didn't fall for the fake and took the ball away with ease.

Had Trae Young's floater fallen after that, Atlanta likely wins the game.

2) The Cavaliers are struggling up front at power forward with Kevin Love and Larry Nance Jr out with injuries and a banged up Taurean Prince, so Lamar Stevens and Dean Wade are receiving extra time.

Stevens finished with eight points and four rebounds in sixteen minutes, while Wade had five and two in twenty one minutes after starting.

3) Collin Sexton didn't make the All-Star game and neither did Atlanta's Trae Young and both came out blazing to show their worth.

Both players are playing well, but the Eastern Conference is stacked in the backcourt and despite being the pair being deserving, they were up against strong competition that was very deep.

4) Atlanta caught a bad break when John Collins, their second best scorer, suffered a concussion after playing only thirteen minutes.

Collins had scored thirteen points at that point on five of six shooting, so the Cavaliers were fortunate to see Collins leave the floor.

Shorter than usual as I am off for my second dose of the Covid Vaccine- Wish me luck.