CLEVELAND — Devin Brown had more dunks than LeBron James. Anderson Varejao had more points than Drew Gooden. Daniel Gibson had as many points as Larry Hughes and Sasha Pavlovic combined.
Friday night belonged to the Cleveland bench, which helped the Cavaliers come from behind to beat the injury-riddled Sacramento Kings 97-93 at sold-out Quicken Loans Arena.
“Me, Devin Brown, Andy, we take pride in that,” said Gibson, who had 13 points, including a game-clinching 3-pointer that put the Cavaliers up four with 11.8 seconds to go. “We always talk about pushing the ball and changing the tempo.”
The Cavaliers (16-17), who won for the fourth time in their last five games, needed all that against the Kings (12-19), who nearly stole a victory despite being without starters Kevin Martin, Mike Bibby and Ron Artest.
Cleveland’s bench outscored Sacramento’s 37-17 — the Kings didn’t really have a bench because all their reserves were starting — as Brown threw down three dunks en route to 13 points and Varejao added a crucial offensive rebound to his 11 points.
Gibson, Brown and Varejao also had two steals each on a night when the Cavaliers shot 38.5 percent from the field, compared to the Kings’ 55.3.
“I don’t know what it is, but whenever I see that purple, it brings something out in me,” said Brown, a former King. “I’m a guy who likes to hustle. They were outworking us, there’s no doubt about that. I tried to do anything I could to change the game in our favor.”
Brown, Gibson and Varejao did plenty, while James (24 points, eight rebounds, 10 assists, five steals) and Zydrunas Ilgauskas (14 points on 4-of-15 shooting, 15 rebounds) also did their part. That helped the Cavaliers win on a night when Hughes was 2-of-11 from the field and Pavlovic and Gooden were both 4-of-11.
“Our bench was big for us tonight,” Cleveland coach Mike Brown said.
The Cavaliers trailed by eight early in the fourth period, but Gibson, Brown and Varejao were huge in an 18-2 run that put Cleveland up eight.
The Kings, however, rallied behind John Salmons (22 points, seven rebounds, five assists), Brad Miller (17 points), Francisco Garcia (15 points), Beno Udrih (11 points, nine assists) and Mikki Moore (11 points, 11 rebounds).
Sacramento was down 92-91 when Garcia rebounded a Cleveland miss, only to lose the ball under the basket. Somehow, it wound up in the hands of Varejao, who made a layup to put the Cavaliers up three with 1:04 to go.
Udrih drove and scored to pull the Kings within one with 47.9 ticks on the clock. James misfired on a 3-pointer at the other end, but Varejao came down with a huge offensive rebound, which was only his fourth board in 32 minutes.
The ball wound up in Gibson’s hands on the right wing. The second-year guard initially dropped the pass, but took a dribble and drained a crucial 3-pointer.
“When I shot it, it felt good,” Gibson said. “I was hoping the result was as good as it felt.”
It was, which was why the Cavaliers won the kind of game they’ve been losing this season.
It wasn’t always pretty, but Cleveland used a 22-6 scoring advantage at the foul line, forced 22 turnovers while committing just nine and came up with 13 steals to overcome poor shooting.
“I’ll tell you what: We ended up finding a way to win,” Mike Brown said.
Things did not start out well for the Cavaliers, but James kept them in the game early with 13 first-quarter points. Cleveland trailed 25-13 late in the first and was still down 29-21 at the end of one, but it could have been worse. James was 5-of-7 from the field, while everyone else combined to go 3-of-17.
Devin Brown threw down two quick dunks to start the second period — the Cavaliers would have had a third, but Varejao was called for walking on an uncontested breakaway — to help Cleveland forge a 49-49 tie at halftime.
The Cavaliers got ahead briefly in the third period, but trailed by six heading into the final period.
James, who had 16 points early in the second period, had just eight the rest of the night, but he did dish out five assists in the crucial fourth quarter. Four came on consecutive baskets, including three straight by Cleveland reserves.
The Kings, meanwhile, had just 10 players in uniform, which is why three starters played more than 43 minutes and another played 39.
“I thought we gave them a gift,” Sacramento coach Reggie Theus said. “I thought we outplayed them, but down the stretch they made the shots they needed to win the basketball game. When it’s all said and done, unfortunately, when our guys get a little tired, I have nobody to put in.”
Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061 or rickn@ohio.net.

Cavs 97, Kings 93

SACRAMENTO (93): Garcia 7-13 0-0 15, Moore 5-8 1-1 11, Miller 7-15 3-3 17, Udrih 5-12 0-0 11, Salmons 10-14 1-2 22, Douby 0-2 0-0 0, Williams 4-5 0-4 8, Hawes 1-1 0-0 2, Jones 3-6 1-2 7. Totals 42-76 6-12 93.
CLEVELAND (97): James 7-18 9-12 24, Gooden 4-11 1-2 9, Ilgauskas 4-15 6-7 14, Pavlovic 4-11 0-2 9, Hughes 2-11 0-0 4, Varejao 5-9 1-1 11, Gibson 4-9 2-3 13, Dw.Jones 0-0 0-0 0, D.Brown 5-7 3-4 13. Totals 35-91 22-31 97.
Sacramento        29 20 24     20 — 93
Cleveland        21 28 18  30 — 97
3-Point Goals—Sacramento 3-15 (Udrih 1-3, Salmons 1-4, Garcia 1-4, Douby 0-1, Jones 0-1, Miller 0-2), Cleveland 5-16 (Gibson 3-7, Pavlovic 1-1, James 1-6, Hughes 0-1, D.Brown 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Sacramento 52 (Moore 11), Cleveland 53 (Ilgauskas 15). Assists—Sacramento 27 (Udrih 9), Cleveland 24 (James 10). Total Fouls—Sacramento 23, Cleveland 15. A—20,562 (20,562).

NEXT UP

WHO: Cleveland at Toronto
WHEN: Sunday, 1 p.m.
WHERE: Air Canada Centre
TV/RADIO: FSN Ohio; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM

 

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