Williams leads short-handed Nets by Cavs
January 28, 2012
CLEVELAND (AP)—Deron Williams scored 27 points and the New Jersey Nets wonconsecutive games for the first time this season with a 99-96 victory over theCleveland Cavaliers on Friday night.
New Jersey came into the game battling illness and injuries. Forward KrisHumphries missed Friday morning’s shoot-around with the stomach flu, but was inthe starting lineup and scored 18 points with 11 rebounds in 33 minutes. TheNets played without center Mehmet Okur (back injury) and guard MarShon Brooks(strained Achilles), but New Jersey led from wire-to-wire despite dressing only10 players.
The Nets, who defeated Philadelphia in overtime on Wednesday, also completedtheir first winning road trip with a 2-1 record.
New Jersey Nets head coach Ave… AP – Jan 27, 10:26 pm EST Cleveland Cavaliers head coach… AP – Jan 27, 10:24 pm EST
New Jersey Nets shooting guard… AP – Jan 27, 10:22 pm EST
Cleveland Cavaliers ' Alon… AP – Jan 27, 10:18 pm EST
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New Jersey Nets point guard De… AP – Jan 27, 10:13 pm EST
New Jersey Nets point guard Jo… AP – Jan 27, 8:57 pm EST
New Jersey Nets power forward … AP – Jan 27, 8:54 pm EST
New Jersey Nets point guard De… AP – Jan 27, 8:51 pm EST 1 of 9 NJ-Cle Gallery
Anthony Morrow added 22 points for New Jersey.
Rookie point guard Kyrie Irving scored a season-high 32 points, including 21in the fourth quarter, for Cleveland. The Cavaliers have lost five of six.
The Nets built a 32-20 lead early in the second quarter. Cleveland cut thelead to 36-33 midway through the period, but New Jersey scored 11 straightpoints and led 47-37 at halftime.
New Jersey opened the third quarter with 3-pointers from Williams andDeShawn Stevenson. The Nets hit five 3-pointers in the period and built a16-point lead. New Jersey led comfortably throughout most of the fourth quarteruntil the Cavaliers rallied. Cleveland cut the deficit to eight points with 1:57remaining. Irving hit a 3-pointer and a layup before Anderson Varejao’s jumperwith 16.5 seconds left cut the lead to 97-93, but Morrow hit two free throwswith 15.6 seconds left. Irving hit at 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Williams also had 10 assists for his fourth straight double-double.
New Jersey last won back-to-back games on March 11-14, 2011. Those were thelast two victories in a five-game winning streak. The Nets began this trip witha 15-point loss in Chicago, but bounced back with a 97-90 overtime victoryagainst Atlantic Division-leading Philadelphia on Wednesday.
New Jersey coach Avery Johnson didn’t know until about an hour before thegame if Humphries would be able to play.
Cleveland struggled offensively until the fourth quarter. The Cavaliersdidn’t get to the free throw line until the 5:25 mark of the second quarter whenAntawn Jamison converted two shots.
Jamison scored 20 points while Ramon Sessions added 11.
NOTES: Johnson said Okur will have an MRI on Saturday. Okur missed two gamesearlier in the season because of back spasms. … Brooks missed his thirdstraight game and Johnson said he will have a further medical examinationSaturday. Brooks might play in Sunday’s home game against Toronto. Brooks is theNBA’s second-leading scorer among rookies, trailing only Irving. … Cavaliers FTristan Thompson, the fourth overall pick in the draft, played after missing thelast two games with a sprained left ankle. He scored five points in 16 minutes.… Cleveland plays at Boston on Sunday and hosts the Celtics on Tuesday.
