Okoro stunner in Cavs victory
Isaac Okoro drained a last-second three-pointer as the Cleveland Cavaliers completed a late rally to down the Brooklyn Nets in the NBA on Thursday.
Okoro nailed a corner three with 0.7 seconds left on the clock to fire Cleveland to a 116-114 victory at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
It capped a furious comeback by Cleveland, who had trailed by eight points with just over two minutes to play in the fourth quarter.
The victory edged Cleveland closer towards clinching their play-off place.
The Cavs are now fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 47-28 record.
“It means a lot man. We battled back in that game, we were down but we kept fighting,” Okoro said.
“We could have played a lot better, but a W’s a Win our book so it don’t matter.”
Brooklyn (39-34), however, have dropped out of the automatic play-off places after five straight defeats and are now staring at a potential spot in the play-in tournament.
In Florida, fifth-placed New York Knicks slid to their third straight loss in a 111-106 reverse to the Orlando Magic.
Orlando, who are 13th in the Eastern Conference with a 31-43 record, kept their faint postseason hopes alive after 21 points from rookie star Paolo Banchero.
Immanuel Quickley and Quentin Grimes led the Knicks scorers with 25 points apiece, with Julius Randle adding 23.
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said his team’s erratic display, which saw them twice trail by 19 points in the second and third quarters, had ultimately proved to be his team’s undoing.
“We exerted so much energy trying to fight out of that hole that we fell short in the end,” Thibodeau said.
“Right now our team is just out of sorts. You have to pull together when you go through rough times.”
In Los Angeles, the Clippers beat Oklahoma City 127-105.
Kawhi Leonard scored 32 points and Russell Westbrook added 24 for the home team.
RESULTS
(home team in CAPS)
ORLANDO 111 New York 106; Cleveland 116 BROOKLYN 114; NEW ORLEANS 115 Charlotte 96; LA CLIPPERS 127 Oklahoma City 105