Cavs hang on to beat Bulls, end five-game skid

CHICAGO (AP) -- LeBron James had the ball. Ronald Murray had the

open look.

So James passed to his teammate, and Murray responded by making

a 3-pointer from the right side with 3.9 seconds remaining to lift

the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 92-91 victory over the Chicago Bulls

on Thursday night.

The Cavaliers then held their breath as Andres Nocioni missed a

3-pointer at the buzzer. With that, Cleveland snapped a five-game

losing streak after blowing a 25-point lead.

Murray, acquired from Seattle at the trade deadline, scored 11

of his 13 points in the fourth quarter.

The winning shot came after Kirk Hinrich went 1-of-2 from the

free throw line to give the Bulls a 91-89 lead with 11 seconds

left. With James driving toward the basket, Nocioni helped and left

Murray -- a 20-percent 3-point shooter -- open.

"My man came off me to slide over on LeBron," Murray said.

"He left me wide open. The look I had felt good, and the shot felt

good."

And James had no qualms about passing out to Murray for that

shot.

"It was the right thing to do," he said.

Coach Mike Brown agreed.

"Everyone thinks that LeBron has to take that last shot, but

he's a guy who will pass it back to the open guy," Brown said.

"He did the right thing. He drove extremely hard to the rim, and

they collapsed on him."

After a timeout, Nocioni was supposed to hand the ball to Ben

Gordon, but Eric Snow prevented that. Nocioni had to force a 3 at

the buzzer.

"They covered me pretty well, and Nocioni had to take the

shot," Gordon said.

It was a sour ending for the Bulls.

Down 10, Chicago scored 11 straight points midway through the

fourth quarter, tying it at 81 on Hinrich's 3-pointer and taking a

one-point lead on Gordon's free throw with 3:01 left.

James, who averaged 34.5 points in the first two games against

the Bulls, scored 33 -- none in the final 7:40. He had 19 at

halftime, matching his total the previous night in a loss to

Sacramento.

With forward Drew Gooden out with flu-like symptoms, second-year

pro Anderson Varejao got the first start of his career and

responded with 13 points and six rebounds. But he missed two free

throws with 18 seconds left and the Cavaliers down 88-87.

Snow added 14 points and eight assists.

Kirk Hinrich had 25 points and nine rebounds for Chicago, two

nights after he had 30 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists in a

111-100 victory over Minnesota.

Luol Deng finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Gordon

scored 16.

"We have to lock in better on defense," Deng said.

Down 75-60, the Bulls started the fourth quarter with an 11-2

run to make it 77-71.

With the score 81-71, Nocioni's basket started the 11-point run

that gave the Bulls their first lead of the game. Murray stopped it

with two foul shots, and the lead went back and forth.

Gordon's floater gave the Bulls an 88-87 lead with 39 seconds

left and Deng hit two free throws to make it a three-point game

with 16 remaining. After Murray scored on a drive, the Cavaliers

fouled Hinrich with 11 seconds left.

"We can't come out and have all these lapses," Gordon said.

"If they get two, at worst we're going into overtime. It was just

a mental lapse on our part."

Bulls forward Malik Allen was back in the starting lineup after

being taken to a hospital with a sprained neck during the Minnesota

game and scored four points in 17 minutes. And Chris Duhon played

17 minutes after leaving that game with a bruised jaw.

Allen said doctors told him he would probably miss a game, but

he felt fine after he warmed up during the morning shootaround.

His range of motion is "a ton better" than it was on

Wednesday.

Allen injured his neck when he rotated to defend the

Timberwolves' Rashad McCants on a drive to the basket early in the

second quarter. As he fell backward, his head hit teammate Darius

Songaila's leg. Allen was immobilized and carted off on a

stretcher.

A few minutes later, Duhon took a shot to the face when he tried

to take a charge against Minnesota's Justin Reed and was done for

the night. Duhon was already sore after taking an elbow to the jaw

from Gordon in practice on Monday.

Game notes
The Bulls have looked into a protective facemask for Duhon,

but he didn't wear one on Thursday. ... The Bulls' 17 points in the

first quarter were a season-low. ... Cleveland's next game is at

home Sunday against Chicago. The Bulls visit New York on Friday.