Written by Jesse Lamovsky

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The streak is over. Cleveland finally ended its season-long nine-game losing skid with a come-from-behind 84-80 victory over the Raptors in the Air Canada Centre Friday night. Trailing by thirteen early in the fourth quarter and playing without head coach Byron Scott, who was ejected just before halftime, the Cavaliers turned the game around with a 23-4 run that was as decisive as it was unexpected.

Hudson Hawk: Lester Hudson is the quintessential basketball journeyman. A 27-year old out of Tennessee-Martin (where he became the first man in NCAA history to log a quadruple-double, at least according to Wiki) Hudson has played for nine teams since turning pro in 2009, including- among others- the Boston Celtics, Dakota Wizards and the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association. Last week he signed a ten-day contract with the Cavaliers who have been a tad thin at the point-guard spot since Ramon Sessions was traded and Kyrie Irving went down with a shoulder injury.

Prior to Friday, Hudson’s career-best NBA scoring night came more than two years ago when he tallied 13 as a member of the Memphis Grizzlies. He scored 12 in Tuesday’s loss to San Antonio, but that output was just an appetizer for what took place in Canada. Playing 31 minutes, Hudson scorched the Raptors for 23 points on 6-of-14 from the field and 11-of-13 from the line and added seven assists and three steals while committing just one turnover.

Hudson’s best effort came in during the fourth quarter. Playing all twelve minutes of the period, the journeyman scored eight points, dished out five assists and came up large at critical points of the game. Hudson’s driving layup gave Cleveland a 71-68 lead and a tiny sliver of breathing room with 4:09 to play, and he went 4-of-4 from the foul line in the final 24 seconds to help preserve the victory.

Lester Hudson may never stick as a full-time player in the Association. But he can always say he led a team to a victory in an NBA game, even if it was between two bad teams and played in another country.

Shots of Jamison: With Sessions gone to L.A. and Varejao, Irving and Gibson hors de combat, Antawn Jamison is one of the few NBA-caliber players left on the active roster. And although he was blowtorched early by Toronto gunner Andrea Bargnani, the veteran from North Carolina recovered to play triggerman of Cleveland’s fourth-quarter comeback. With the Cavaliers trailing 64-51 in the opening minute of the period, Jamison explode for 15 points in less than five minutes, including three straight three-point bombs, capping the binge with a driving layup that tied the game with 6:24 remaining. Antawn finished his night with a team-high 25 on 8-of-16 shooting, including 3-of-5 from downtown.

Third Wheel: Only three men scored in double figures for the Cavaliers on Friday. Jamison and Hudson were two; the third was Samardo Samuels, who tallied ten to go with seven rebounds off the bench. Samuels’ main contribution came on defense, where he bodied up Bargnani and cooled him off after a scorching start. Bargnani scored 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting in the game’s first nine minutes and had Austin Carr making Dirk comparisons; he scored six on 2-of-16 the rest of the night.

Cold as a Frosty Molson: Bargnani wasn’t the only Raptor to lose the range down the stretch. In the first eleven-and-a-half minutes of the fourth period, as the Cavaliers turned a thirteen-point deficit into a six-point lead, Toronto went 2-of-14 from the field and committed five turnovers. Part of it was poor shot selection; part of it was Cleveland’s physical defense; part of it was the officials, who swallowed their whistles and allowed the Cavaliers to play the role of the aggressor.

Heave-Ho: Byron Scott must have been proud of his team’s effort during the fourth-quarter comeback, but he didn’t see it in person. Late in the first half, with the Cavaliers trailing and (apparently) getting the worst of it when it came to whistles, Scott lost his cool, picked up two rapid-fire technical fouls and was tossed out of the game. The coach got his money’s worth, dropping several f-bombs (followed by “you”) and referring to one official as a female dog as he left for the locker room. Assistant coach Paul Pressey, the old point forward, guided the Cavaliers the rest of the way.

Homecoming: Brampton, ON native Tristan Thompson returned to his old stomping grounds Friday but contributed little to the victory. Thompson didn't get his first rebound or point until the two-minute mark of the first half and finished with a quiet six-point, four-board night. He did convert a three-point play in the third quarter, when Bargnani hilariously bit on Thompson's shot-fake and fouled him on the layup.

Nice: Cleveland committed just six turnovers Friday night.

Silver Cloud, Dark Lining: If there’s one drawback to this pleasing victory, it’s that it could ding the future stock of ping pong balls in the Draft Lottery. Currently the bottom of the overall standings shakes out like this, in reverse order:

Charlotte (7-46: --)

Washington (12-44: 3.5)

New Orleans (14-41: 6)

Cleveland (18-35: 11)

Sacramento (19-36: 11)

New Jersey (20-37: 11)

Toronto (20-36: 11.5)

Detroit (21-34: 13)

Golden State (21-33: 13.5)

Catching “down” to the Bobcats, Wizards and Hornets is pretty much out of the question. The real question is what will happen between the Cavaliers, Kings, Nets and Raptors, who are separated by a half-game. Cleveland can finish as high as fourth in the Lottery or as low as ninth. It’s nice to see the Cavaliers win the way they did in Toronto; let’s just hope they don’t make a habit of it in the season’s final month.

It’s a tightrope. The Cavaliers really do need to lose more than they win, at least this season- and they have. But they can’t make a habit out of losing, or of getting the **** kicked out of them on the regular like they have the last two weeks. There has to be a balance of pragmatism and promise. Losing is a reality, but that doesn’t mean it should become a habit.

That having been said, shutting down Kyrie and rolling with the Donald Sloan-Lester Hudson two-headed monster might not be the worst idea. “Kyrie” sound like much more of a baller’s name than “Donald” or “Lester,” by the way.  

Next: It’s a battle for Lottery position Sunday evening at 6:00 when the Cavaliers take on the Nets at the Prudential Center in Newark.