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Irving leads Cavs over Kings

Feb 20, 2012 - 4:29 AM Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - Kyrie Irving dropped one foul shot through the basket, then two.

Nothing unusual there, except, with four tenths of a second to play, the first tied the game and the second won it.

Irving scored 23 points in total to lead all Cavaliers and Cleveland knocked off the Sacramento Kings, 93-92, in dramatic fashion on Sunday.

Antawn Jamison contributed 21 points and eight rebounds and Tristan Thompson had a double-double with 15 points to go with 12 boards for Cleveland, which has won two of its last three.

Isaiah Thomas and Marcus Thornton each had double-doubles of their own, with Thomas posting 23 points and 11 assists and Thornton adding 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Kings, who have lost five straight.

"We did as much as we could, things just didn't go our way tonight," Kings head coach Keith Smart said.

Down one with 2.9 seconds to play, Irving accepted an inbounds pass at the key and began driving into the paint for the presumptive final shot. DeMarcus Cousins, perhaps forgetting that Sacramento was in the penalty, fouled Irving on the floor and sent him to the charity stripe, where he would sink the decisive shots.

"There was a little bit of pressure, but I was prepared for it," a confident Irving said.

Cousins had given the Kings their previous edge. Losing 91-90, Cousins took an inbounds pass, drove underneath the basket and laid in a reverse finger-roll that fell through the cylinder with 2.9 ticks on the clock.

The frenetic pace in the final seconds mirrored that of the entire game, one that saw 19 lead changes and 17 ties. The teams exchanged the lead eight times in the final 6:11 alone.

Prior to that, the Cavaliers appeared to be running away with it. Leading 75-68 to begin the final period, the Cavs scored five of the first seven to take a 10 point lead, their largest of the game.

The Kings came storming back, however. Paced by two Thomas treys, they scored 10 straight to tie it at 80.

Thomas scored 12 of his points in the first and Sacramento held Cleveland to 36.4 percent shooting in the quarter en route to a 31-27 advantage after one.

Cleveland shot no better in the second frame, but made the most of its free- throw opportunities, netting 7-of-11 from the line to take a 50-49 halftime lead.

Game Notes

Thomas' point and assist totals both set career-highs...Cleveland's Omri Casspi set a career-high in rebounds with 12...The Cavaliers have played two games on a six-game homestand...Sacramento outscored Cleveland 56-21 in the paint and 21-13 on fastbreak chances.