Jones delivers OT ‘dagger’

Cleveland, San Antonio secure trips to conference semis

? LeBron James played 53 minutes. Damon Jones played 14 seconds.

James provided the gamesmanship. Jones provided the game-winner.

That combination has the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round of the playoffs for the first time in 13 years.

James scored 32 points, made two key blocks, survived a nasty collision with Brendan Haywood, and – perhaps, most importantly – did some talking to Gilbert Arenas at the free-throw line late in overtime. Arenas missed both attempts, setting up Jones’ 17-foot baseline jumper with 4.8 seconds remaining in the Cavaliers’ 114-113 victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday night.

“Damon Jones, self-proclaimed ‘Best Shooter in the Universe,’ hit a dagger,” James said.

The Cavaliers won the series 4-2, their first series victory since 1993, when James was 8 years old. They also won two road games in a playoff series for the first time in franchise history. They will have little time to celebrate before opening the second round Sunday at Detroit.

Spurs 105, Kings 83

Sacramento, Calif. – Tony Parker scored a playoff-career-high 31 points as San Antonio finally shook Sacramento, winning Game 6 of their first-round series.

Bruce Bowen scored 16 points as the NBA’s best road team during the regular season closed out a series on the road for the seventh time in the last four playoffs and advanced to the second round for the sixth consecutive season.

On Sunday, the Spurs will host the fourth-seeded Dallas Mavericks, who finished their first-round sweep of the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday. The Mavs chased San Antonio in the Western Conference standings all season, falling three games short of the Spurs’ franchise-record 63-win season.