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Wednesday, Feb. 9 7:30pm ET
Fittingly, Wesley plays best game of season | |||||
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 GAME FLOW
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- It was the perfect game for David Wesley to snap out of his shooting slump. On the night they retired his best friend's jersey, Wesley had a season-high 30 points and five steals to help the Charlotte Hornets to a 103-95 victory over road-weary Cleveland. Wesley had 17 points after Wednesday night's halftime ceremony to honor co-captain Bobby Phills, who became the first Charlotte player to ever have his jersey retired. "It was important that David came out and did well," coach Paul Silas said. "Hopefully this will carry him through the rest of the season." Phills was killed Jan. 12 in a car crash that police said occurred while he was racing Wesley at speeds in excess of 100 mph. Wesley's field-goal shooting dropped to 35 percent after the accident, but he made 9 of 17 against the Cavaliers, including a 4-for-7 showing after he fought back tears during the 10-minute halftime ceremony. Wesley has declined interview requests since the accident, but he has received widespread support from his teammates and Phills' family. Phills' parents both hugged him during the ceremony, as did Phills' widow, Kendall, who greeted him with a smile, a long hug, a kiss and a few words near the end of the ceremony. "It was nice for David to come out and play strong. It was especially emotional for him," teammate Eddie Jones said. "You know he wanted to go out and play well." Jones, playing his final contest before starting at guard for the Eastern Conference in Sunday's NBA All-Star game, had 32 points and four steals. "Since Bobby started his career in Cleveland, after he left and came here, whenever he played them he always wanted to blow them out," Jones said. "That's all I was thinking about -- going out and playing extremely hard and trying to blow them away. Bobby loved beating them, and I just wanted to beat them for him." Derrick Coleman added 21 points for the Hornets, who improved to 20-3 at home and 3-0 with their new lineup featuring 6-foot-8, 250-pound Anthony Mason at point guard. Lamond Murray had 31 points, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Cavaliers from falling to 4-21 on the road, including losses in their last nine. "There really is not much to complain about concerning our effort," coach Randy Wittman said. "We have to continually play with this effort and enthusiasm. We've been playing hard like this, but then we seem to take two steps back." Cleveland made a run in the fourth quarter but was unable to overcome 19 turnovers that the Hornets converted into 25 points. Charlotte used a 10-2 surge in the closing minutes to send the Cavaliers to their eighth straight loss when they are held below 100 points. Cleveland shot 52 percent in the first quarter but dipped to 32 percent in the second. The Cavaliers missed 8 of their last 11 field-goal attempts in the second quarter and their first eight in the third, clearing the way for Charlotte to build a 13-point lead. After Jones hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to stretch Charlotte's lead to 80-66 early in the fourth, the closest the Cavaliers got was 88-85 on Shawn Kemp's short jumper with 2:34 remaining. But Jones answered with a 21-footer, then stole the ball from Kemp, was fouled and hit two foul shots. Wesley added a steal and a pair of foul shots and Coleman had a fast-break dunk to make it 98-87 at the 1:04 mark. Game notesThe Hornets improved to 17-0 at home when they lead at halftime and 14-0 at home when they hold opponents to fewer than 100 points. ... The Cavaliers are 0-8 on the road against Central Division opponents. ... Jones has scored at least 20 in seven consecutive contests. ... Cleveland's Bob Sura sat out his fourth consecutive game with a sprained toe. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Cleveland Clubhouse Charlotte Clubhouse Hornets retire jersey of former co-captain Phills
RECAPS Indiana 113 Boston 104
Charlotte 103
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