Seattle

- Cavaliers coach John Lucas has made it clear that he's not a believer in moral victories, but Friday night's 102-100 loss to the Seattle SuperSonics could have a positive impression on his team.

Unlike previous losses, where the Cavs have faded late in the fourth quarter, the game against Seattle was on the verge of a different story. Lucas has been in search of some clutch play from his veteran players down the stretch.The team came up short but he got some clutch play on Friday night.

"Compared to the other games, we gave a different effort at the end," Lucas said. "We played smart and hopefully we can continue to get that same effort."

The effort was there, especially during the last 1:33. The Sonics also benefited from some good fortune. Trailing by two, Andre Miller went in for a layup. After getting bumped, his shot was blocked but the Cavs retained possession. Lamond Murray went in for a dunk and missed when he and Vin Baker made hard contact. The Sonics (19-17) got the ball past halfcourt and callled timeout with less than 50 seconds left. Lucas was engraged about the silent whistles.

When asked about the no-calls, Lucas said he didn't want to be fined by the league.

The Sonics took a three-point lead with 15 seconds left. Murray stepped up big and tied the score at 100 with a 3-pointer with less than eight seconds left. Gary Payton nailed the winning shot with nine-tenths of a second left. The Cavs attempted a lob to Chris Mihm but the play failed. "We had four options and Andre went inside to Mihm," Lucas said. "I thought Jumaine [Jones] was open on the other side."

Miller was happy about the Cavs' late effort but he remained disappointed with the result.

"No one wants to deal with a moral victory, it's still an L," Miller said. "You just have to move on and carry this into the Portland game and see what happens."

The Cavs certainly don't want to relive what happened against Portland last Monday. That's when the Trail Blazers blew the Cavs out by 26 points. And unfortunately for the Cavs, this Trail Blazers team is on a roll. Portland's victory over Orlando on Friday completed a 3-1 trip. Less than a week ago, the Blazers were mired in a six-game losing streak, their longest in over six years.

Tonight is the third game of the Cavs' trip of six games in nine days. The Cavs have lost five straight and eight out of their last 10. The Cavs' last victory was on Jan. 2 against Golden State.