CLEVELAND — The last player picked in the 2011 NBA Draft got the better of the first player chosen during Sunday night’s game at Quicken Loans Arena.

But the No. 1 pick had the last laugh thanks to a silly foul or a horrible call, depending on who was asked.

Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving drives to the hoop against Kings center Demarcus Cousins. (AP PHOTO)

Kyrie Irving made a pair of free throws with 0.4 seconds left to lift the Cavaliers to a wild-and-wacky 93-92 victory over Isaiah Thomas and the Sacramento Kings in front of 16,812 fans.

“The game was on the line,” Irving said. “It’s something you dream of.”

On Sacramento’s final possession, the clock was incorrectly turned on when Tyreke Evans’ inbounds pass hit the rim (the clock doesn’t start until a player on the court touches the ball), giving the Kings (10-21) one last chance.

The Cavs (12-17) survived when DeMarcus Cousins’ long, off-balance one-hander, which was waved off by the officials for being after the buzzer, hit backboard and iron before bouncing off. Had the shot gone in, a video review would have been necessary to determine whether it counted.

“We got a little lucky tonight,” Cavs coach Byron Scott said. “That’s all I can say.”

With the game tied at 90, the Kings missed three shots on one possession, then compounded matters when Cousins fouled Alonzo Gee with 6.2 seconds left.

Gee made 1-of-2 free throws, but Cousins responded with a reverse layup around Antawn Jamison with 2.9 ticks on the clock.

Then the fun really started.

After a timeout, Irving inbounded to Jamison, quickly took a return handoff and was one-on-one with Evans, who reached in and was called for a foul with 0.4 seconds left.

“I’m not going to diagram anything,” Scott said. “Give (Irving) the ball and see if he can create a shot. … Luckily for us, Mr. Evans decided to foul him.”

Though Evans’ foul almost appeared to be intentional, as though the Kings thought they had one to give before Cleveland was in the bonus, that wasn’t the case at all.

In fact, from Sacramento’s perspective, official Bennie Adams made a horrible call.

“I hit the ball,” Evans said. “You can’t make that call.”

Asked what he thought about the whistle, Kings coach Keith Smart said, “I can’t answer that. My wife would be mad at me. I just saw a good defensive play.”

It was that kind of night at The Q, where the 5-foot-9, 185-pound Thomas, the 60th and last player chosen in the draft, had career highs across the board while finishing with 23 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists in his second career start.

“I don’t think he deserved to be the last player picked,” said Irving, who had 23 points on 8-for-21 shooting, three rebounds, one assist and four turnovers. “He showed why tonight. He’s a basketball player.”

Irving had 17 points by halftime, but was 2-for-11 from the field in the second half and got his only assist of the night on a lob to Tristan Thompson with 11.5 seconds left in the third period.

“He took it personal,” Scott said of Thomas’ performance. “I don’t think Kyrie took it personal. Isaiah was going at him.”

Irving, however, answered the call when the Cavs needed him most, hitting two pressure-packed free throws to win the game.

“I just imagined I was back in my backyard,” the 19-year-old said.

The Cavs also got a great night from Thompson (15 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks), the No. 4 overall pick in the draft, while Jamison (21 points, 8 rebounds, 7-21 FG), Ramon Sessions (14 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 5-14 FG) and Omri Casspi (6 points, career-high 12 rebounds, 3-12 FG) made positive contributions.

Cousins (19 points, 9 rebounds, 6-17 FG), Marcus Thornton (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Evans (10 points, 5-17 FG) all had their moments for the Kings, who got next to nothing out of former Cav J.J. Hickson (0 points, 4 rebounds).

The Cavs were up 80-70 with 10:53 left in the game, but Sacramento went on a 14-2 run to set up the wild ending, which was made wackier by both teams’ inability to put the ball in the basket. Cleveland shot .360 from the field (32-for-89), while Sacramento connected at a .376 clip (35-93).

“I didn’t think we played the way we are capable of playing,” Scott said. “I thought we were kind of messing around in the first half. In the second half, that (Sacramento) team had a lot of confidence it could win the game and we tried to turn it on. You can’t turn it on and off, so I thought we got lucky.”

Second chances

After the game, the Cavs released point guard Ben Uzoh, whose 10-day contract expired. The move creates a roster spot, which could be filled by shooting guard Manny Harris with Anthony Parker (back) and Daniel Gibson (ankle) ailing.

• The Cavs’ 19 offensive rebounds tied a season high. Thompson had a career-high seven of them while recording the first double-double of his career.

• Sacramento’s Thomas, a University of Washington product, played a career-high 43 minutes.

Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com.

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