The final seconds ticked away yesterday, with the Los Angeles Lakers needing a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime.
That shot was never even attempted.
LeBron James won his personal matchup with Kobe Bryant in a duel of the NBA's leading scorers, tallying 14 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter, and the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers beat Los Angeles, 98-95, for their fifth straight win over the Lakers.
After James's two free throws with nine seconds to play gave Cleveland a 3-point lead, the Lakers took a timeout to formulate strategy. The Cavaliers, of course, focused their defense on Bryant.
"That's really what you want. You want to not allow Kobe to get a clean look from the start of the play, make those guys make a couple passes, which we did, and not let them get a clean look," Cleveland's Larry Hughes said. "Nobody wanted to shoot it."
Bryant scored 9 of his 33 points in the final period, and also had 12 rebounds and six assists, but it wouldn't be enough to keep the Lakers from losing their third straight.
Kings 103, SuperSonics 101 - Kevin Martin scored Sacramento's final 5 points, including a frantic race the length of the court for a 20-footer as the clock expired, and the Kings extended host Seattle's franchise-record losing streak to 14.
Damien Wilkins pulled the Sonics even at 101, hitting a challenged 3-pointer over John Salmons with 6.1 seconds left. Out of timeouts, Martin raced into the frontcourt, dribbling through most of the Seattle defense, and into the deep corner. He leaned under the outstretched arm of Wilkins and nailed the shot.
Martin finished with 26 points, one of seven Kings in double figures.
Kevin Durant led Seattle with 19 points, but missed 15 of his 20 shots, and Wally Szczerbiak added 16.
Bucks 105, Wizards 102 - Mo Williams scored 25 points, including two key 3-pointers, and Charlie Bell added 22 as shorthanded Milwaukee beat visiting Washington in overtime - after blowing an 11-point lead in the final 92 seconds of regulation.
The Bucks overcame a career-high 40 points from the Wizards' Caron Butler to earn their third victory in the last 10 games.
Timberwolves 98, Nets 95 - Al Jefferson had a career-high 40 points - including the go-ahead free throws with 11.4 seconds to go - and 19 rebounds to lift Minnesota over visiting New Jersey, despite trailing by 15 points with 11 minutes to go.
Richard Jefferson scored 35 points and Vince Carter added 25 for the Nets.
Jazz 97, Rockets 89 - Kyle Korver scored 17 points, including two late 3-pointers, and visiting Utah took advantage of Yao Ming's absence to beat Houston and win its eighth game in nine tries.
Yao sat out with an upper respiratory infection, the first game he's missed this season.
Warriors 106, Knicks 104 - Stephen Jackson scored 16 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter and Andris Biedrins grabbed an NBA season-high 26 rebounds to help Golden State rally past visiting New York.
Trail Blazers 94, Hawks 93 - Brandon Roy scored 24 points, including the go-ahead free throw with 2.3 seconds left, as Portland erased a 19-point deficit to beat visiting Atlanta.
Suns 88, Bulls 77 - Amare Stoudemire scored 24 points as visiting Phoenix, despite going 5 for 25 on 3-pointers, pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Chicago.
Mavericks 90, Nuggets 85 - Dirk Nowitzki scored 16 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter to help host Dallas hold off Denver and win for the 11th time in 13 games.
