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A couple weeks ago Sundiata Gaines was just another NBA dreamer trying to make his name in the D-League. On Thursday night he was a thorn in the Cavaliers side for an entire quarter, including the game’s final shot.

Gaines, who was signed to a 10-day contract by the Jazz last week, hit a 26-foot three-pointer at the buzzer to give Utah a 97-96 victory over the Cavaliers.

There wasn’t much for the Cavaliers to say about the shot after the game. The rookie came through when for his team when they needed him. It didn’t matter that Anthony Parker had a hand in his face, or that it was his first NBA three-pointer.

“We played him as perfect as we could,” said LeBron James. ”He hit a clutch shot.”

James was no slouch himself. He finished with 36 points, 20 of them in the fourth, and also chipped nine rebounds, six assists and five steals. The reigning league MVP may have stuffed the stat sheet, but this game will be remembered for the performance by a little-known guard playing in just his 5th NBA game.

Gaines didn’t play until the fourth quarter, but still finished with nine points on 3-3 shooting. He also did a stellar of guarding Mo Williaams, who scored just two points in the final period.

“He came in and played a heck of a ball game,” said Cavs coach Mike Brown.” … That’s when they made their run, when he came into the game.”

The Cavaliers entered the fourth with a five-point lead (60-55), but saw it vanish in a hurry.

The Jazz scored 25 of the quarter’s first 32 points to gain a double-digit advantage. Although there were still five minutes remaining in the game at the point, it looked as if the Cavs would be leaving with a loss. They were missing easy shots and throwing lazy passes.

Then James took over.

The 25-year-old superstar scored 18 points over the final 3:26 of the game, doing whatever he wanted. He scored inside-and-out, refusing to let his team go away quietly.

“LeBron was great for us. He hit some big-time shots,” said Brown. ”He got to the rim and make some big-time plays.”

James capped his scoring burst with two free throws with 32 seconds remaining that brought the Cavaliers lead to six. But the hard-nosed Jazz, who rarely let their home crowd go home unhappy, had one last run in them.

“You give Utah credit,” said Brown. ”Jerry Sloan is a great coach. Their team is a good executing team.”

A quick 9-5 run by the Jazz over the final half minute cut the Cavaliers lead to two.

What happened over that stretch is simple. The Jazz hit free throws and the Cavs did not.

Parker made just 2-4 from the line during the run, while Zydrunas Ilgauskas made 1-2. The Jazz, on the other hand, went 4-4 from the line.

“We kind of hung in there because of LeBron, and we were able to take the lead,” said Brown. “But we didn’t get it done down the stretch.”

The Cavs turned the ball over six times in the fourth quarter and finished with 21 turnovers or the game.

“Our turnovers that we had throughout most of the game, a lot of them were unforced,” said Brown. ”I can’t believe the amount of times we tried to feed the post and the ball got tipped or it got stolen.”

Although the main thing that will be pulled from the game is the play of Gaines, the most shocking stat may be the 42 points the Cavaliers gave up in the fourth quarter. The Jazz shot 12-17 during the quarter as the visiting defense had no answer for Gaines and Co.

“That last shot is not why we lost the game,” said James. ”We’ve got to play as close to 48 minutes as possible.”

Still, it was a big shot.

“He got himself another 10-day, I think,” said Jazz forward Paul Millsap. ”He’s a guy who comes in everyday and works hard. He’s one of those guys that was overlooked, but his name is out there now and we are glad to have him.”