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Cavs hand Bobcats 3rd straight loss

Apr 6, 2011 - 5:01 AM Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - Ramon Sessions scored 18 points off the bench, J.J. Hickson had 16 points and 19 rebounds and the Cleveland Cavaliers snapped a three-game losing streak with a 99-89 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.

Ryan Hollins added a season-high 16 points for the Cavs, who bounced back nicely from their 0-3 road trip, leading by as many as 21 points and handing Charlotte a damaging loss.

The Bobcats have lost three in a row in the heels of a four-game winning streak, falling 2 1/2 games behind the idle Indiana Pacers for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

D.J. Augustin scored 22 points to lead Charlotte, which has five games remaining on the season, including three against current playoff teams.

"We just gotta win every game we can," said Bobcats center Kwame Brown.

The Cavs shot just 45 percent from the floor in the game, but were red-hot in the first quarter, hitting better than 59 percent of their shots to take control of the game early.

"I'm very proud of the way we came out and just really took it to them," said Cleveland head coach Byron Scott. "I thought we were the aggressor at the start and thought we ended that way too."

Four players scored at least six points in the quarter -- Hickson had nine of his 16 -- and Cleveland raced out to an 18-point lead with a 6-0 burst at the end.

Christian Eyenga's dunk in the final seconds made it 34-16, and Hollins threw down an alley-oop jam to open the second, capping a larger run of 8-0 and giving the Cavs a 20-point lead.

Cleveland pushed its lead to as high as 21 before taking a 55-38 lead into halftime.

The Bobcats showed life with a 13-1 run to open the third quarter, pulling within 56-51 on Gerald Henderson's three-pointer midway through. They cut the lead as low as four and trailed 74-66 heading into the fourth, but never got closer than seven after that.

Game Notes

Henderson scored 15 points for Charlotte and Matt Carroll had 13 off the bench...The Bobcats are trying to reach the postseason in consecutive years for the first time in franchise history. They were attempting to sweep the season series with Cleveland for the first time ever after winning the first two games...The Cavs (16-61) still have the worst record in NBA.