Cavaliers throttled by Wizards 127-115
BY STONE LEXINGTON
CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER
The last time the Cleveland Cavaliers and Washington Wizards met, the game was an instant classic. LeBron James banked in a miraculous turnaround, step-back, fadeaway three-pointer with 0.3 seconds left to force overtime. Then in overtime, Kyrie Irving carried the Cavs the rest of the way en route to Cleveland’s third straight victory over Washington.
Saturday night, the Cavs and Wizards met for the final time this season, as Cleveland sought the season sweep against one of their most formidable Eastern Conference foes. Washington avoided the sweep, however, outlasting Cleveland 127-115 in Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavs have now lost eight of their 14 games in March.
“We just got to keep working through it,” Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue said. “And we will. We’ll be good. But right now, just got to keep finding different combinations (with the rotation) until we get it right.”
James nearly recorded a triple-double, finishing with 24 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. The perennial MVP candidate began the night wearing protective glasses for a corneal abrasion, suffered the night before in Charlotte against the Hornets. With three minutes to play in the first quarter, James dispatched of them and his vision didn’t seem to be detrimentally impaired. With his seventh assist, James passed Maurice Cheeks (7,392) for 12th place on the NBA’s career assists list.
Irving finished with 23 points and four assists. He has now scored 20 points or more in a career-high 21 straight games, the longest active streak in the league.
The Cavs defense hasn’t been great this season and it showed early Saturday night. Washington led 40-26 after the first quarter, aided by John Wall’s 18-point first quarter (8-for-8 from the field). The Wizards shot 82 percent in the quarter (18-for-22) and were on pace to put 160 on the Cavs in their building. By halftime, Washington had scored more than 70 points, leading 71-61 at the break.
Cleveland seemed to figure out their defensive struggles a bit in the third quarter, allowing Washington to score just 20 points in the period. By the time Irving converted a layup just before the third quarter expired, Cleveland had cut Washington’s lead to a five-point deficit, 96-91. Nevertheless, the Cavs’ defensive lapses resurfaced in the fourth quarter, where the Wizards scored 31 points to pull away.
“It just seemed like they were so much faster than us,” Lue said. “In transition, to the basketball, getting to the paint. For me, I just think we didn’t have it tonight. I thought the guys got tired.”
The Cavs early struggles on defense shouldn’t have come as a surprise. The Cavs entered the game 20th in the NBA in points allowed (106.6), while they also allowed at least 108 points to opponents in each of their previous four games. They’ll attempt to get things back on track Monday night in San Antonio against the Spurs.
POSTED 03/25/2017 02:04
Lake County Sentinel
Photo by Greg Goth
