As the Cavaliers' regular season came to a close, the final two months of the season provided some of the most jaw-dropping plays and heart-stopping finishes of the 2005-06 campaign. As the trees began to bloom and spring rolled around, Cleveland was becoming a battle-hardened ballclub as the Wine and Gold geared up for their first playoff appearance in eight years.

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Flip Murray's heroics against the Bulls turned the tide of the Cavaliers' season.

MARCH

If there’s one thing to be said about the 2005-06 Cavaliers, it’s that they had a flair for the dramatic. But when March rolled around the madness rose to an entirely new level.

The month started out much the same as February had ended as the Cavaliers lost their fifth straight game, dropping a 97-90 home decision to the Kings at The Q.

Cleveland was obviously still smarting from back-to-back drubbings by the Pistons to end the previous month and the team that had designs on a 50-win season – and the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference playoff picture – was suddenly reeling.

Starting two-guard, Larry Hughes’, suffered yet another set-back with his injured finger and was forced to undergo a second surgery that would keep him out for most of the remainder of the season and Cavaliers GM, Danny Ferry, knew that a move had to be made.

At the trade deadline, Ferry made what, at the time, seemed like a minor move – dealing reserve point guard Mike Wilks to the Seattle Sonics for shooting guard, Flip Murray.

Murray got his first start against Detroit in late February, but made his big splash – literally – with the Cavaliers in the second game of March, when he hit a shot that just might have salvaged the Cavaliers' season.

On a Thursday night in Chicago, on the heels of a five-game losing streak, the Cavaliers had built up and then lost a 25-point lead to the Bulls.

Kirk Hinrich split a pair of free throws to put Chicago up by two with 11 seconds to play, which set up Flip’s heroics. LeBron James dribbled into the middle of the lane and found a wide-open Murray, who calmly drilled the three-pointer to give Cleveland the 92-91, breathing new life into the Wine and Gold’s season.

The Cavaliers dropped Chicago three nights later at home and embarked on a back-to-back against Toronto, where James once again set up the drama, but let a teammate bring down the final curtain.

On March 8, the Cavaliers had once again let a big lead get away, this time to the lowly Raptors. But as he had done six days earlier in the Windy City, LeBron drove into the paint and dished off to Damon Jones, who dropped a three-point bomb on Toronto to give Cleveland the 98-97 winner.

Team Streak was back in business, winning four straight to set the month in motion.

But as hot as they were for the previous week, the Cavaliers cooled right back off. They were blown out in Orlando, dropped a tough decision in Miami and were thwarted by the heavyweight Mavericks in Dallas.

After getting back on track with a solid St. Patrick’s Day win over the Blazers, the Cavaliers got well with one of the most entertaining games of the season on a Sunday afternoon at The Q.

LeBron and Kobe Bryant waged an epic battle, and the Cavaliers and Lakers went toe-to-toe for four quarters in Cleveland. But in the end, it was Flip Murray once again who did the damage, scoring 14 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter as Mike Brown’s Men won a heart-stopping 96-95 thriller. Like LeBron’s potential game-winner two months earlier in Los Angeles, Kobe’s shot drew back iron to give Cleveland the win.

As the sold-out crowd went berserk, James gathered the team for an impromptu fire-and-brimstone huddle after the comeback victory.

The Cavaliers would go on to win their final four games of March following the Lakers win and, after giving his teammates the spotlight all month, it was LeBron’s turn to star in the final act.

For all the accomplishments of James’ brilliant career, he had never hit a game-winner. But that all changed when he pulled up and sunk a 20-footer from just above the key to top the Bobcats at the buzzer, 120-118, on March 22 at The Q.

The Cavaliers closed out the month with style, beating up the powerhouse Mavericks in Cleveland to clinch their first playoff berth in eight years. LBJ took over in the second half of the game, scoring 31 of his 46 points as Cleveland prepared for its final playoff push.

Cleveland finished the month with an impressive 10-4 record, and looked to be gelling at just the right time.

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LeBron James turned in a monster performance against New Jersey in possibly the biggest road win of the season.

APRIL

With a playoff berth already clinched heading into the final month of the season, the Cavaliers were now focused on the fourth-seed in the Eastern Conference – and home court in the first round of the postseason.

Their dramatic run continued with another weekend classic at The Q on the first day of April when LeBron and Dwyane Wade staged one of the greatest one-on-one duels in modern memory.

Playing without Shaquille O’Neal, Wade was forced to carry the load for Miami and he did that and more, scoring 44 points to LeBron’s 47. Both players combined for 39 points in the thrilling fourth quarter as Cleveland pulled away down the stretch for the 106-99 win in what Mike Brown called “an instant classic.”

The victory was the Cavaliers’ seventh straight, but they weren’t done. Wins over the Bobcats and Sixers extended the win streak to nine before a scintillating performance by New York’s Jamaal Crawford helped the Knicks end Cleveland’s run.

But the Wine and Gold rebounded quickly, and put on perhaps their finest road performance of the year three days later on the other side of the Hudson.

The Nets came into the April 8 matchup with the Cavaliers having won a season-high 14 games, but LeBron James was not about to let them get to 15 as he scored 18 of his game-high 37 points in the final period – including a man-sized three-point play with 51 seconds remaining in which he sliced through three New Jersey defenders to get the bucket and the tax.

It was James’ ninth straight game with 35 points or more and he and his band of Cavaliers held off the Nets – who had given them problems over the last two seasons – to get the enormous 108-102 road win.

That game in particular gave the Cavaliers the confidence they would need to win huge games in a hostile environment, something that would figure largely in their postseason run that would begin two weeks later.

By the time the Cavaliers were putting the wraps on the regular season, Larry Hughes had returned from finger surgery and Cleveland was merely trying to stay healthy heading into the playoffs.

After a loss to the Pistons, the Cavaliers would go on to win three of their final four regular season ballgames and prepare for one of the most memorable playoff runs in franchise history.

2005-06 Recaps: November - December | January - February | March - April | Playoffs Round 1 | Playoffs Round 2