WASHINGTON: The roster is stocked with veterans and playing in hostile environments is not a new experience, but that didn't mean the Cavaliers were immune to what befell them Thursday night.

They looked extremely uncomfortable in their blowout loss to the Washington Wizards in Game 3, shrinking their series lead to 2-1. The Wizards played like their season was on the line, and their fans backed them up. The Cavs' response to the challenge was much weaker than expected.

Which is what the team was trying to deal with at practice Friday, the first of two days off in the capital after the 36-point loss. The loss wasn't just embarrassing because of the score, but because of the way the Wizards overwhelmed them with more aggression.

There are technical fixes that must take place and plenty of film to watch and digest, but the Cavs' first reaction in the aftermath was that some retrenching needed to take place before Game 4 on Sunday. It is an issue that the Cavs have been fighting for a while. After their big trade in February, they were just 3-9 on the road and often displayed some of the same lapses that were glaring in Game

3.

''We have to use what happened as a teaching tool,'' Cavs coach Mike Brown said. ''We have to learn from that game; we have to grow from that game and go out and try to win Game 4. It's their energy and focus that we have to combat. The most aggressive team is going to win, and they were the most aggressive team.''

The Wizards' energy was especially evident at the defensive end, where extra pressure forced the Cavs into 23 turnovers.

It wasn't just the more active Wizards' hands and feet, the Cavs guards, especially younger players Daniel Gibson and Delonte West, didn't seem to play with the confidence they did when the series was in Cleveland.

The poise and calm that were displayed in the first two games, when the Cavs kept turnovers down and operated under control, was lost.

''We have to be able to counter what they throw at us,'' LeBron James said. ''We're a veteran ballclub; we know what we did wrong. We understand where the game turned. You want to focus on your mistakes and look at the things you did well and get better at them.''

In general, the players and coaches believe after reflection that the Wizards didn't do much different in Game 3 than in the series' first two games; they just did it with way more intensity. Paired with the Cavs' drop in that regard, the huge swing in momentum was explained. But the Cavs also believe that the damage was limited.

''It's one win, you don't get two wins if you win by 30,'' James said. ''The pressure is on them, but there's pressure on us, too. We have to see how we react to what happened. We have to have a sense of urgency. Right now we're up 2-1 and still in a comfortable position, and we're going to try to get it to 3-1.''

Arenas' status murky

Gilbert Arenas, who left with more soreness in his left knee after just seven minutes in Game 3, said he's still planning on trying to play in Game 4. But the rest of the details make it sound like his comeback, ambitious as it was, might be nearly over. It appears the high point might have been in Game 1, when he scored 24 points off the bench. He hasn't been the same since.

On Friday, Arenas conceded that after Game 2 that he had an MRI that revealed a bone bruise in the knee, which has undergone two surgeries in the past year. He said he didn't practice Tuesday or Wednesday of this week and took Friday off, as well. He might have a pinched nerve in the back of the knee, too, and said he's considering taking a pain-killing shot to play. Even then he might only be able to go a handful of minutes as he did Thursday, a move that he thought helped pump up the Verizon Center crowd.

''I said I would try to go out there and warm it up and see how long I can last. I knew I wasn't going to play more than 10 or 15 minutes,'' Arenas said. ''I just wanted to get out there, energize the crowd, get everybody excited about being home and get some people involved until my time was up.''

DeShawn/LeBron brews

Cavs fans got to have their fun with the DeShawn Stevenson-James feud, and now it is the Wizards' fans turn. They were in high gear as Stevenson scored 19 points with rapper Soulja Boy sucked into the media-fed frenzy, sitting courtside. Afterward, James was peppered with questions about it and more came Friday, but the Cavs star just continues to brush them off.

''It's no big deal to me. I said what I had to say, and I moved on,'' James said. ''There's no rivalry. There will never be a rivalry between me and DeShawn. . . . I respect every last one of their players. . . . I don't know DeShawn Stevenson.''

Stevenson, though, couldn't help continuing to fan the flames.

''Well, he was stealing my move in Cleveland so obviously he's worried about us and what we're doing over here,'' he said.