Written by Jesse Lamovsky

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Kyrie Irving refused to lose- and thanks in large part to him, the Cavaliers didn’t. Cleveland ended its season-long six-game losing streak with a scintillating 100-99 upset of the Nuggets in Denver Wednesday night, the spectacular rookie again leading the way with a sensational fourth quarter capped off by the game-winning basket with four seconds to play.

Irving’s late heroics were just the biggest highlight of perhaps the most exciting last few minutes the Cavaliers have played all season. Neither team led by more than two in the last eleven-and-a-half minutes and in the last 2:36 the lead changed hands nine times. It was punch and counter-punch down the stretch- and in the end, it was the precocious Irving that launched the final, decisive haymaker that sent Denver down to defeat in front of a stunned crowd at the Pepsi Center.

Start at the Finish: Up until the final two-and-a-half minutes Irving really hadn’t done a whole lot: eight points on 4-of-12 shooting with seven assists while being outplayed by his point-guard counterpart Ty Lawson. But the youngster knows when to turn it on, and with 2:36 left he emerged from the phone booth and went to work. Irving began his stretch run by splitting a double team and waltzing inside for a three-point play to give the Cavaliers a 91-90 lead.

After Lawson converted a three-point play to put the Nuggets back in front and Anthony Parker threw the ball away, Irving made a terrific defensive play to deny Lawson a layup, then again got inside and again got a hoop with harm to make it 94-93 Cavaliers with 1:46 remaining. (It looked to the partisan Denver crowd and to Yours Truly like Irving travelled on the play, but we won’t talk about that.) After a Lawson layup and a Daniel Gibson miss on a three-pointer, Irving again made a stellar play on defense, grabbing a steal and feeding Alonzo Gee for a dunk to give Cleveland a 96-95 lead with 59.8 seconds to play.

Denver now went inside at Cleveland’s soft middle, and Nene powered it in off the glass to make it 97-96 Nuggets with 46.6 left. No problem- Irving again flew inside for an acrobatic layup and it was 98-97 Cavaliers with 24 seconds to play. Knowing a good thing when they had it, the Nuggets again went down low to Nene and the Brazilian banged it in from close to give his team a 99-98 lead with 15.1 seconds remaining.

After a timeout, Byron Scott elected to go the length of the court- and unaccountably, George Karl elected to not let someone else beat him. Taking Anthony Parker’s pass, Irving drove ninety feet with Aaron Afflalo hanging on his hip, rolled down the lane, avoided Nene’s block attempt and laid it in with four seconds to play. Ty Lawson had one last chance to salvage the game for Denver but once again it was Irving providing just enough defense to force the miss, and Cleveland had secured its first victory in the Mile High City since December of 2008.

Whew.

Showed Up When it Mattered: Kyrie Irving’s line in the final two-and-a-half minutes: ten points on 4-of-4 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the line with two assists, a steal and the game-winning bucket. He didn’t look as good in the first forty-five-and-a-half minutes, but who cares?

Oldie but Goodie: Irving may have provided the heroics late in the game, but it was Cleveland’s old pro that kept things close early. Antawn Jamison, whose rookie season came when Kyrie was six years old, poured in 26 first-half points as the Cavaliers overcame a nine-point second-period deficit to lead 57-55 at the break. Jamison finished the night with a game-high 33 on 11-of-21 from the field and- surprisingly for a 63 percent foul shooter- 8-of-9 from the charity stripe.

Crucial Run: Jamison’s scoring was huge, but it was defense that got the Cavaliers back in the game for good before halftime. Trailing 45-38 midway through the second quarter and with Denver threatening to disappear over the horizon, Cleveland clamped down hard, holding the Nuggets to one basket in the next five-and-a-half minutes and ripping off a 17-4 run to make it 55-49 good guys with 1:35 left in the half. The Cavaliers never trailed by more than two the rest of the way.

Dunk of the Night: Alonzo Gee got the start on Wednesday night and performed very well with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting with seven rebounds, four steals and three assists. The Alabama slammer also provided the game’s most spectacular play early in the second period, when he drove down the lane and hammered home a left-handed cram on Chris Anderson and Kenneth Faried, practically dunking the two Denver big men into the basket along with the ball.

Let Them Make the Mistakes: Despite being pounded on the boards to the tune of a 46-36 rebounding deficit, Cleveland won in large part because the Nuggets simply made more errors in both ball security and shot selection. Denver committed 17 turnovers on the night and went a dismal 4-of-20 from three-point range, including a couple of air-balls by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle lookalike Al Harrington (who led the Nuggets with 22 off the bench.) Leading 82-81 early in the fourth, Denver had six chances to extend the lead and parlayed those opportunities into five missed shots and a turnover.

When you’re a team like the Cavaliers, winning means not so much raising your game to the opponents’ level as the opponent lowering its game to yours. Denver proved most obliging on that score Wednesday night.

Next: Friday night at 8:00 when the Cavaliers head to the Sooner State to take on the Thunder, owner of the West’s best record at 31-8.