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Friday, Mar. 16 7:30pm ET
Mashburn ejected at end of heated game

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Matt Harpring's hard-nosed, win-at-all-cost style has endeared him to the Cavaliers and their fans.

Don't count Jamal Mashburn as one of them.

Harpring scored a career-high 28 points and Bimbo Coles made two huge baskets in the final 1:33 Friday night, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a surprising 114-109 win over the Charlotte Hornets.

Harpring, whose scored his previous high of 25 in a Dec. 26 game against the Hornets, added career-high seven assists and played solid defense on Mashburn as the Cavs cooled off one of the NBA's hottest teams to win for just the fourth time in 25 games.

"We came out and put the game to them," said Harpring, who had surgery earlier this season after injuring his left ankle in a loss to the Hornets.

"I owed them one then," Harpring joked when reminded his previous career-high came at Charlotte.

The Hornets are the ones who now feel they may owe Harpring something.

David Wesley scored 26 points and Mashburn had 23 before getting ejected for the Hornets, who had their winning streak snapped at four and lost for only the third time in 16 games.

Baron Davis had just six points on 1-of-10 shooting for Charlotte.

Mashburn, held in check for most of the final period by Jim Jackson and Harpring, was thrown out with 2.8 seconds remaining after he and Harpring exchanged words.

"He put his knee in the back of my leg and I didn't appreciate that," Mashburn said. "It was a dirty play."

Harpring said he didn't know why Mashburn was mouthing off at him.

"I think he was a little frustrated," Harpring said. "I think they were frustrated after winning four in a row."

Mashburn, though, wasn't buying Harpring's excuse.

"He knows what he did," Mashburn said. "He's not a dummy. He knows time and situation. He's not a rookie and he knows exactly what he did. I didn't appreciate it."

There was a lot of testiness between the teams for most of the second half, and twice Cavs coach Randy Wittman and Charlotte's Paul Silas had to go on the floor to help the referees calm players down.

Campbell was assessed a flagrant foul for pushing Harping into the Cavs' bench on a loose ball, and Mashburn was given a technical for spitting on the floor after he was called for a foul.

In all, seven technicals were called along with the flagrant foul.

"I'm mad," Wesley joked while looking at the boxscore. "I didn't get one. I let the team down."

With Cleveland up 105-101, Jackson grabbed a long rebound off a Harpring miss and Coles scored on a nice drive to put the Cavs up six with 1:33 left.

After Wesley hit a jumper, Coles drove the baseline, hung in the air and dropped in a 10-footer to make it 109-103 with 24 seconds remaining.

Mashburn made consecutive 3-pointers to bring the Hornets within 113-109 with 3.9 seconds to go, but was tossed moments later after extending his middle finger toward the crowd and going chest-to-chest with Harpring.

"Matt played Mashburn tough," Silas said. "He is a hard-nosed kid. I liked him when he was in Orlando and they (Cavs) really missed him when he went down here. ... They gave us an old-fashioned butt kicking."

Coles and Clarence Weatherspoon had 14 points apiece and Chris Gatling had 11 for the Cavs, who in the past week have beaten Central-leading Milwaukee and Charlotte, gotten blown out in New York and lost by 10 at home to an Orlando team missing star Tracy McGrady.

Eddie Robinson had 16 points and Elden Campbell 13 -- 11 on free throws -- for the Hornets, who began the night trailing the first-place Bucks by 1 1/2 games in the Central Division.

"I don't think we took them lightly," Silas said. "I just don't think we came out with the same kind of energy that we should. We can't take any team lightly."

Game notes
The 114 points were a season-high against Charlotte. ... Cavs guard Andre Miller played just 21 minutes because of a sore left hip. ... The Hornets are 17-2 when scoring 100 points or more. ... Wittman, a starter on Indiana's national championship team in 1981, took some ribbing after the Hoosiers were knocked out of this year's NCAA tournament on Thursday by Kent State. "You always take your fair share," he said. Game notes
Cavs guard Andre Miller played just 21 minutes because of a sore left hip. ... The Hornets are 17-2 when scoring 100 points or more. ... Wittman, a starter on Indiana's national championship team in 1981, took some ribbing after the Hoosiers were knocked out of this year's NCAA tournament on Thursday by Kent State. "You always take your fair share," he said. ... Silas said former NBA star Charles Barkley should forget about a comeback. "I'm going to give him a call and tell him he has the best job going," Silas said of Barkley, now a TV commentator. "He's going to come back and get himself hurt and he doesn't need that." ... Gatling is organizing a paint-ball war among his teammates, and has posted a signup sheet in the team's locker room. The way the Cavs shoot, that game could last awhile.

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RECAPS
Indiana 103
Atlanta 97

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Philadelphia 79

LA Lakers 101
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Cleveland 114
Charlotte 109

Orlando 103
Vancouver 99

Seattle 90
Chicago 80

San Antonio 95
New Jersey 86

Boston 87
Denver 83

Portland 90
Utah 87

LA Clippers 94
Golden State 76


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