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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Matt Harpring's hard-nosed, win-at-all-cost
style has endeared him to the Cavaliers and their fans.
Don't count Jamal Mashburn as one of them.
Harpring scored a career-high 28 points and Bimbo Coles made two
huge baskets in the final 1:33 Friday night, leading the Cleveland
Cavaliers to a surprising 114-109 win over the Charlotte Hornets.
Harpring, whose scored his previous high of 25 in a Dec. 26 game
against the Hornets, added career-high seven assists and played
solid defense on Mashburn as the Cavs cooled off one of the NBA's
hottest teams to win for just the fourth time in 25 games.
"We came out and put the game to them," said Harpring, who had
surgery earlier this season after injuring his left ankle in a loss
to the Hornets.
"I owed them one then," Harpring joked when reminded his
previous career-high came at Charlotte.
The Hornets are the ones who now feel they may owe Harpring
something.
David Wesley scored 26 points and Mashburn had 23 before getting
ejected for the Hornets, who had their winning streak snapped at
four and lost for only the third time in 16 games.
Baron Davis had just six points on 1-of-10 shooting for
Charlotte.
Mashburn, held in check for most of the final period by Jim
Jackson and Harpring, was thrown out with 2.8 seconds remaining
after he and Harpring exchanged words.
"He put his knee in the back of my leg and I didn't appreciate
that," Mashburn said. "It was a dirty play."
Harpring said he didn't know why Mashburn was mouthing off at
him.
"I think he was a little frustrated," Harpring said. "I think
they were frustrated after winning four in a row."
Mashburn, though, wasn't buying Harpring's excuse.
"He knows what he did," Mashburn said. "He's not a dummy. He
knows time and situation. He's not a rookie and he knows exactly
what he did. I didn't appreciate it."
There was a lot of testiness between the teams for most of the
second half, and twice Cavs coach Randy Wittman and Charlotte's
Paul Silas had to go on the floor to help the referees calm players
down.
Campbell was assessed a flagrant foul for pushing Harping into
the Cavs' bench on a loose ball, and Mashburn was given a technical
for spitting on the floor after he was called for a foul.
In all, seven technicals were called along with the flagrant
foul.
"I'm mad," Wesley joked while looking at the boxscore. "I
didn't get one. I let the team down."
With Cleveland up 105-101, Jackson grabbed a long rebound off a
Harpring miss and Coles scored on a nice drive to put the Cavs up
six with 1:33 left.
After Wesley hit a jumper, Coles drove the baseline, hung in the
air and dropped in a 10-footer to make it 109-103 with 24 seconds
remaining.
Mashburn made consecutive 3-pointers to bring the Hornets within
113-109 with 3.9 seconds to go, but was tossed moments later after
extending his middle finger toward the crowd and going
chest-to-chest with Harpring.
"Matt played Mashburn tough," Silas said. "He is a hard-nosed
kid. I liked him when he was in Orlando and they (Cavs) really
missed him when he went down here. ... They gave us an
old-fashioned butt kicking."
Coles and Clarence Weatherspoon had 14 points apiece and Chris
Gatling had 11 for the Cavs, who in the past week have beaten
Central-leading Milwaukee and Charlotte, gotten blown out in New
York and lost by 10 at home to an Orlando team missing star Tracy
McGrady.
Eddie Robinson had 16 points and Elden Campbell 13 -- 11 on free
throws -- for the Hornets, who began the night trailing the
first-place Bucks by 1 1/2 games in the Central Division.
"I don't think we took them lightly," Silas said. "I just
don't think we came out with the same kind of energy that we
should. We can't take any team lightly."
Game notes
The 114 points were a season-high against Charlotte. ...
Cavs guard Andre Miller played just 21 minutes because of a sore
left hip. ... The Hornets are 17-2 when scoring 100 points or more.
... Wittman, a starter on Indiana's national championship team in
1981, took some ribbing after the Hoosiers were knocked out of this
year's NCAA tournament on Thursday by Kent State. "You always take
your fair share," he said.
Game notes
Cavs guard Andre Miller played just 21 minutes because of a
sore left hip. ... The Hornets are 17-2 when scoring 100 points or
more. ... Wittman, a starter on Indiana's national championship
team in 1981, took some ribbing after the Hoosiers were knocked out
of this year's NCAA tournament on Thursday by Kent State. "You
always take your fair share," he said. ... Silas said former NBA
star Charles Barkley should forget about a comeback. "I'm going to
give him a call and tell him he has the best job going," Silas
said of Barkley, now a TV commentator. "He's going to come back
and get himself hurt and he doesn't need that." ... Gatling is
organizing a paint-ball war among his teammates, and has posted a
signup sheet in the team's locker room. The way the Cavs shoot,
that game could last awhile.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Charlotte Clubhouse
Cleveland Clubhouse
RECAPS
Indiana 103
Atlanta 97
Sacramento 100
Philadelphia 79
LA Lakers 101
Washington 89
Cleveland 114
Charlotte 109
Orlando 103
Vancouver 99
Seattle 90
Chicago 80
San Antonio 95
New Jersey 86
Boston 87
Denver 83
Portland 90
Utah 87
LA Clippers 94
Golden State 76
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