Chris Morris rebounded Derrick Coleman's missed shot with seven seconds left and the New Jersey Nets ran most of the remaining time off the clock Saturday night, clinching a 101-99 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers and tying their best-of-5 playoff series at one game each.
Coleman had 27 points and 14 rebounds for the Nets, who bounced back from a blowout loss in Thursday night's opener. Drazen Petrovic scored 21 and Morris 20.Larry Nance and Mark Price scored 17 each for Cleveland, which had won 18 of its previous 19 games against the Nets in Richfield Coliseum.
Coleman's follow-up dunk with 1:17 to play put the Nets ahead 100-94, but it was their last field goal. Baskets by Nance and John Williams brought the Cavaliers within two, and Coleman's short jumper deflected against the rim as the shot clock wound down with less than 10 seconds to go.
The Cavaliers seemed to think the ball never touched the rim, and by the time they fouled Morris there were only six-tenths of a second left.
Morris made one of two foul shots, and Cleveland's Danny Ferry was fouled on the ensuing inbounds play. He made one free throw before Craig Ehlo was called for a lane violation as the Cavs tried to tip in Ferry's intentional miss.
The star-crossed Nets, already crippled by injuries to Kenny Anderson and Chris Dudley, were forced to play without Rick Mahorn, out with the flu.
But role players Chucky Brown and Dwayne Schintzius responded nicely in the first half, helping harass the Cavaliers into 41 percent shooting, including a combined 7 for 22 by the frontcourt of Daugherty, Nance and Williams.
Cleveland led 49-45 at halftime, a big difference from its 21-point advantage at halftime of Thursday night's opener.
The Nets fell behind by as many as 12 in the third quarter before a 16-2 run, sparked by Petrovic's 3-pointer, got them back in it.