The center Andre Drummond, of the Cleveland Cavaliers, got a double-double of 22 points, 15 rebounds and two recoveries that made the difference in the victory that his team achieved this Thursday at home by 90-94 against the Grizzlies of Memphis.
Drummond’s dominance within the painting was what finally broke the balance in a match that was always even and with suspense on the scoreboard.
Drummond posted the ninth consecutive double-double since the new season began.
Along with the veteran center, another tall man, the power forward Larry Nance Jr., who was perfect in the field goals (7-7), also helped by scoring 18 points and making a great defense after recovering three balls and distributing four assists.
With a steal in the third quarter, Nance reached 400 in his career. Nance leads the NBA with 2.38 steals per game.
Meanwhile, the Turkish forward Cedi Osman reached 16 goals, gave seven assists and captured five rebounds that allowed the Cavaliers (5-4) to break the losing streak of two consecutive games and have a winning record again.
Reserve center JaVale McGee finished as the sixth player to come off the bench with 13 points, six rebounds and a block.
The key play came with 34 seconds to end regulation time when, on a penetration by Grizzlies point guard Tyus Jones to make a basket, Isaac Okoro was charged with a personal foul.
Cleveland challenged the referee’s decision, the foul was overturned and the Cavaliers gained possession of the ball. That led to a dunk from Okoro with 10.6 seconds left and a 90-93 lead.
The Cavaliers lost top scorer Collin Sexton, who was left out with a sprained left ankle. That left Cleveland trying to regain the 25.1 point average Sexton has achieved so far per game.
Lithuanian power forward Jonas Valanciunas led Memphis with a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, while power forward Brandon Clarke had 14 points.
Guard Dillon Brooks scored 11, but made 4 of 13 shots from the field and did not help avoid the defeat of the Grizzlies (2-6), the third in a row and the fifth in a row in his field at FedExForum, where they still do not know the victory so far this season (0-5).
The Grizzlies haven’t won a home game this season. His only two victories came on the road in Brooklyn against the Nets and in Charlotte against the Hornets.
In the wake of the chaos on Wednesday’s Capitol in Washington, and in protest against racial and social injustice, teams stopped at the start of the game, stepped aside, crossed their arms and knelt.
They were joined by coaches, staff and reserves covering the entire sideline to the finish line. The three referees, meanwhile, knelt in the middle of the court behind the line of players.
