Cleveland 114, Washington 113 (OT)
Jones Lifts Cavaliers Into Second Round
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WASHINGTON, May 5 (Ticker) -- Damon Jones made first-year coach Mike Brown look like a genius.
Jones hit a long jumper from the right corner with 4.8 seconds remaining to lift the Cleveland Cavaliers into the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 114-113 overtime victory over the Washington Wizards in Game Six of their first-round series.
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All-Star LeBron James collected 32 points, seven rebounds and seven assists as the fourth-seeded Cavaliers won their first playoff series since 1993, setting up a matchup with the two-time defending Eastern Conference champion and top-seeded Detroit Pistons.
Hardly used throughout the series, Jones was inserted into the game for the first time with Cleveland trailing, 113-112, with 14 seconds left and his team inbounding just past half-court.
Larry Hughes took the inbounds pass and quickly got the ball to James, who was immediately double-teamed by the Jared Jefferies and Gilbert Arenas. Sensing the pressure, James passed the ball on the right sideline to Hughes, who flipped it to Jones for the clutch jumper.
Without any timeouts, the Wizards raced the ball upcourt and got a good look, but Caron Butler's 3-pointer from the right wing hit the front of the rim.
Jones' second basket on just three attempts in the series highlighted a huge effort by the Cleveland bench in a game where the organization had normally been snakebitten.
Donyell Marshall scored 28 points, Flip Murray 21 and Anderson Varejao grabbed 10 rebounds as the Cavaliers captured their second playoff victory on the road and improved to 1-4 all-time in Game Sixes.
Cleveland had a 107-104 advantage in regulation after Murray sank two free throws with 9.9 seconds remaining. Arenas, who finished with 36 points on 14-of-27 shooting, had the ball stripped out of his hands and out of bounds after racing up the court. However, he caught the ensuing inbounds more than seven feet behind the 3-point line and sank the deep shot to force the overtime.
In the extra session, Arenas had a chance to add to a 113-112 lead for Washington with 15 seconds left but missed two free throws.
Antonio Daniels scored 22 points and Butler added 18 and a career-high 20 rebounds for Washington, which failed to make its second straight trip to the conference semifinals.
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This has probably been the best series so far. Many amazing finishes in each game. Lebron and Arenas went head to head and Lebron came on top. Props to both of em.
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