Cavs Shock Pistons In OT 88-87

March 28, 1998 / 12:06 AM EST / CBS/AP

Wesley Person did the unexpected Friday night leading to what he gets paid to do.

The slender guard ripped a rebound away from Detroit forward Grant Hill, then hit a 3-point shot with 0.3 seconds to play in overtime to give the Cleveland Cavaliers an 88-87 win over the Pistons.

"The ball kind of bounced over his head and gave me better leverage," Person explained. "Then I saw him fall down so I stepped back to try and create some distance and got a good look at the shot.

"It felt good when it left my hand. Once it was in the air I knew it was good."

Person's fourth 3-pointer of the game halted Detroit's season-high winning streak at four games.

"We've been playing well and did again tonight so there's no way we are going to let that shot get us down," Hill said.

"I was a little off balance and Wesley had leverage. He's stronger than he looks, too."

Shawn Kemp led Cleveland with 23 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out with 38 seconds left in overtime. Person scored 16, Cedric Henderson 12 and Brevin Knight had 10 points and 14 assists.

"Kemp kept them in the game in the fourth quarter," Detroit coach Alvin Gentry said. "You can only do so much against great players and he's a great player."

Jerry Stackhouse's 26 points and six assists led Detroit. Hill had 25 points and 11 rebounds for the Pistons.

"A lot of players on both teams played really well tonight," Cavs coach Mike Fratello said. "You have two teams trying to survive in the playoff race."

Person's game-winning shot came after Hill had put Detroit ahead 87-85 with 2:05 left on a 10-foot shot with one second left on the 24-second shot clock.

Both teams struggled after that. Cleveland gained control of the ball with 20 seconds to play and worked for a final shot. Vitaly Potapenko tried a 3-pointer from the corner that was short and Person snatched the rebound from Hill and scored.

Asked what he thought of the shot by the 6-10, 280-pound Potapenko, who is 1-for-6 in his career from 3-point range, Fratello said:

"I thought he was in big trouble when we got to the locker room. I think he thought that, too.

"I had no idea he has been working on that step-back three."

At the end of regulation, Stackhouse missed the first of two free throws that would have put Detroit ahead with 23.2 seconds left. He made the second to tie the score at 83.

Person's 3-point attempt with two seconds left rattled out, forcing overtime.

"We had chances in regulation and overtime and didn't put the game away," Hill said.

Stackhouse kept the Pistons in the game in the first half, which ended with Cleveland ahead 48-46. He came off the Detroit bench and scored 1points with six assists before halftime.

Cleveland has won six of its last seven games and played three games this week decided in the final seconds losing to San Antonio 86-85 with 3.3 seconds left Tuesday night and winning in Toronto 97-96 Thursday night.

Notes: The teams were tied 13 times in the first half. ... This was Cleveland's 17th set of games on consecutive nights. The Cavs have gone 10-7 on the first night and 7-10 on the second night. ... Cleveland is 2-4 in overtime and Detroit fell to 3-3. ... Brian Williams' 12 rebounds led Detroit.