Spurs Nip Cavs on Duncan’s Buzzer Beater

CLEVELAND – Tim Duncan made a 19-foot jumper just before the final horn sounded, giving the San Antonio Spurs a 94-92 victory Monday night over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who dropped their third straight.

Duncan missed his first seven shots and didn’t score in the game’s first 19 minutes. But with the game on the line, he took a pass from Tony Parker, gathered himself and calmly knocked down his shot without a hand in his face.

After going 0-for-7, Duncan went 9-for-10 from the floor and added 11 rebounds. Parker added 19 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists – none bigger than his short pass to Duncan after drawing Cavs center Zydrunas Ilgauskas on a pick-and-roll.

Ilgauskas had 26 points and LeBron James finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Cavaliers, who have lost four of five and are entering a tough stretch of upcoming games.

San Antonio’s Manu Ginobli, who finished with 17 points, could have put the Spurs up by four points, but missed a pair of free throws with 19.2 seconds to go.

The Cavaliers called timeout and after an inbounds play, Spurs center Rasho Nesterovic left Ilgauskas wide open underneath. James whipped a pass to Cleveland’s big man, whose dunk tied it 92-92 with 14.2 seconds remaining.

With Duncan setting a pick near the top of the key on Jeff McInnis, Parker dribbled to the right side and when Ilgauskas drifted over, Parker passed the ball back to Duncan with more than two seconds left.

Cleveland’s defense was late rotating toward Duncan, who had time to set his feet, measure the distance and drill it. San Antonio’s bench erupted onto the Gund Arena floor and swarmed Duncan.

The shot silenced the crowd of 18,216, and was a fitting ending to Gordon Gund’s ownership of the Cavaliers.

On Tuesday, the team will officially be turned over to Detroit mortgage magnate Dan Gilbert, who paid $375 million for the NBA franchise. Gund, who bought the Cavs for $20 million in 1983, will remain a minority owner.

During his 22 seasons with the Cavaliers, Gund’s teams were beaten by some big shots, most notably Michael Jordan’s buzzer-beater in the 1989 Eastern Conference finals for the Chicago Bulls.

After starting slowly in losses at Indiana and New Jersey, Silas wanted his team to come out with more energy. Cleveland’s coaches reinforced the message by writing, “Start with desperation” on the locker room’s erasable board.

The Cavaliers followed orders as Ilgauskas scored 13 points in the first quarter, helping Cleveland take a 25-20 lead after one.

Duncan, meanwhile, missed his first six field-goal attempts and was called for two fouls before going to the bench with 4:03 left in the first quarter.

Notes:@ Grammy Award-winning R&B artist Usher is among the minority investors in Gilbert’s ownership group. “Maybe he’ll show me some moves,” joked Silas. “He’s a good dancer.” … During his meeting with players, Gund said he appreciated their effort and wished them luck. “It’s a different chapter in his life,” guard Eric Snow said. “It sounds like we won’t see him as often.” … The Spurs, 24-2 at home, are just 19-11 on the road. … Cavs G Jiri Welsch, acquired in a trade last week from Boston, missed his second straight game with a bruised quadriceps. Welsch got hurt in his debut at Indiana on Friday.