I actually said, "I'm going to give this about another two minutes of game time to see if there is any chance and then we will ( I was sitting with Cherie) watch YouTube videos".
After all, the Cavaliers were down thirteen to the best team in basketball, the Boston Celtics, who were on an eleven-game winning streak, and Cleveland was playing without Donovan Mitchell, so it didn't seem like as much of a quitter's mentality as much as accepting a likely ending to move on with the evening.
And as I watched, one of the most memorable quarters in Cavaliers history was about to unfurl.
Dean Wade is one of those players that I've never been able to see what the Cavaliers have seen in him.
I mean, Wade is a role player with limited minutes a night but Cleveland often seems to expect him to be more than he is when injuries hit or be able to fill a role on the roster after a transaction that he's not capable of filling.
Cleveland's rally from twenty-two down in the fourth quarter is the largest fourth-quarter rally in franchise history and to have Dean Wade of all people lead that rally against the best team in basketball is beyond belief.
Wade scored twenty points in the fourth quarter, which was more than the Celtics team scored in the quarter, hitting five three-pointers, and then after Cleveland turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions which allowed Boston to regain the lead by one, it was Wade with the offensive rebound and slam that gave the Cavaliers the eventual winning points.
However, Boston had the final shot, and it would be so Cleveland to play so well without their stars (Evan Mobley left the game in the third quarter with a sprained ankle) and when Jayson Tatum missed with 0.2 seconds to go but was fouled by Darius Garland with what looked to be minimal contact, it seemed to be business as usual.
J.B. Bickerstaff appealed the call and when the review was made, Tatum's leg kicked out to make the contact, and the call was overruled and Boston didn't have enough time to win the jump-ball and call a time-out for a desperation toss.
Cleveland's 105-104 win along with last week's buzzer-beater against Dallas has to rank among the most memorable regular-season wins in franchise history and they occurred exactly one week apart.
Time will tell how long the Cavaliers can continue their terrific play if they can keep it going in the postseason, or are they peaking too soon but for one night, Dean Wade was unstoppable- few people in life get that feeling even for one night.
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