|
|
 |
 |
|
| |
Tuesday, Apr. 18 7:30pm ET
Wesley scores 14 of 23 in decisive third | |||||
|
| ||||||
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
 GAME FLOW
CLEVELAND (AP) -- A few minutes of tough defense led to an entire quarter of easy baskets Tuesday night for the Charlotte Hornets. David Wesley scored 23 points, including 14 in the decisive third quarter, to spark Charlotte to a 103-88 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Charlotte, which has won six straight and 13 of 15, began the day a half-game behind Philadelphia in the race for the fourth seed and home-court advantage in the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The 76ers played their final game Tuesday night at Chicago. "We're keeping focused on the playoffs," Wesley said. "We know that winning takes care of our own business." The Hornets finish the season Wednesday night at home against Miami. Wesley scored the first four points of a 9-0 run that gave Charlotte a 79-63 lead late in the third quarter. Charlotte had four steals and shot 65 percent in the quarter to turn a 51-50 deficit into an 84-66 lead. Derrick Coleman had 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Anthony Mason 16 points and 11 rebounds for Charlotte. "We buckled down, played defense and got easy baskets," Mason said. "When this team gets easy baskets we're dangerous." Bob Sura led Cleveland with 20 points, Andre Miller scored 16 and Shawn Kemp had 15 points and 14 rebounds. Cleveland's Wesley Person opened the second half with an 18-foot jumper to give the Cavaliers their last lead at 51-50. Eddie Jones responded with a 3-pointer to fuel Charlotte on a 34-15 run the rest of the quarter. "We just didn't come out with energy in the second half," Miller said. "It has been a problem all season for us trying to finish out games." Game notesThe Cavaliers' promotion involving 5-foot-5 guard Earl Boykins, a Cleveland native, came up short. All fans smaller than a life-size cutout of Boykins at the ticket gates were admitted for $5.50. The announced crowd of 14,481 was more than 6,000 short of a sellout. ... Boykins shot 4-for-14 from the field in 18 minutes. ... Cleveland shot 35 percent from the field. Kemp, Boykins and Lamond Murray shot a combined 11-of-39, 28 percent. ... Charlotte is 35-3 when scoring 100 or more points. ... The Hornets improved to 6-18 overall at Cleveland. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Charlotte Clubhouse Cleveland Clubhouse RECAPS Boston 114 Washington 81
Charlotte 103
  | |||||