134. It's all Hughes's fault for holding us back!_2

In the last two-plus minutes of the first quarter, the Knights only scored 3 points, but the Cavaliers didn't fare much better, managing only a 2+1 lay-up from James and 5 points from Varejao, who made two free throws after drawing a foul on a second-chance effort.

At the end of the first quarter, the Cavaliers had narrowed the score to 15-20.

After the break between quarters, the Cavaliers brought on Donnell Marshall, Damon Jones, and Big Z, with James and Hughes continuing to play.

On the Knights' side, Bickerstaff had anticipated the opponent's rotation strategy, having faced Mike Brown's tactics three times in the last three months, which were too easy to figure out.

Instead of bringing back the well-rested Zhang Yang, he sent out a lineup featuring Felton, Alan Anderson, Gerald Wallace, Melvin Ely, and Brezec.