It hasn't been a good year for Damon Jones. But last night was a great night for him.
Jones, who has been immersed in a season long shooting slump, buried a three pointer at the buzzer last night to give the Cavaliers a 98-97 win over the Raptors in Toronto's Air Canada Centre last night.
Jones, who proclaimed himself "the world's greatest shooter" after signing a four year, sixteen million dollar deal with the Cavaliers this off-season, has hit just 35% of his three point attempts and 37% of his field goals attempts after knocking down 46% from long range a year ago as a member of the Miami Heat. He is also facing sexual assault charges over an alleged incident in Lakewood last year.
Jones game winner extended the Cavaliers winning streak to four games after it appeared the Raptors had them dead to rights.
Morris Peterson drilled a three ball from the top of the key with four seconds left that put the Raptors up two, and sent the sellout crowd of 19,800 into euphoria. The Cavs called a timeout, and Mike Brown drew up a play for LeBron. LeBron took the inbounds almost near half court, drove hard towards the foul line, where he was met by three defenders. James found a wide open Damon Jones eagerly waiting for the ball outside the three point line on the baseline, right in front of the Cavs bench. And Damon buried it.
The Cavs trailed by six with two minutes left, and made a number of big stops and crucial buckets down the stretch. LeBron had five big points, including three converted free throw attempts. And the Cavs defense, non-existent most of the night, came up with big stops on Mike James and Morris Peterson, who combined to scorch the Cavaliers for 61 points.
Not surprisingly, the Cavs were led by James 35 points. He also added 6 rebounds and 6 assists, and didn't commit one turnover all game. Flip Murray added 14, albeit on 5-15 shooting. And Eric Snow has another solid game, posting 10 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, and just one turnover.
The Cavs win moves them to 36-26, and by my count, will wrap up a playoff spot provided they can just win six of their remaining twenty games. They are off today, and play at Orlando tomorrow night.