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Careless play, lack of defense leads to defeat against Wizards
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Friday, Mar 14, 2008
WASHINGTON: With all the injuries, holdouts and trades, the Cavaliers have constantly looked different throughout this turbulent season.
But one thing has never seemed to show up for long: their defensive identity.
After LeBron James' heroics, that was the calling card that got the team to the NBA Finals last season, and this year it has only been seen in very short bursts. Wednesday night in New Jersey was not one of those times, and neither was Thursday night against the Washington Wizards.
There were some memorable circumstances in the final minutes, but the Wizards' 101-99 win really showed what has been holding the Cavs back. Some spells of careless play, mixed in with periods of absentee defense cost them the game.
The highlight shows will no doubt
focus on two plays in the final 20 seconds, both of which involved James. With 19.4 seconds left and the Cavs down two points, he was called for a charging foul when he threw his shoulder into DeShawn Stevenson to create space. The turnover put the Cavs out of position to come back.
Then at the final horn, James missed a 3-pointer from the left wing, again with Stevenson on him, which would've won it.
''I wanted to go for the win; I told that to my teammates,'' said James, who had seven of the Cavs' 17 turnovers on the night. ''I didn't want to go to overtime and all my teammates knew that. I'm human; I missed it.''
James had 25 points but settled mostly for jumpers in the fourth quarter, going just 1-of-6 with Stevenson on him most of the time.
It was a sweet way for Stevenson to end the game, considering how personal he seemed to take it. In the last meeting between the teams on Feb. 22, a day after the Cavs' 11-player trade, the Cavs got a narrow win when Stevenson missed the final shot.
Apparently, there was also some trash talk directed Stevenson's way, because he spent much of the game Thursday chattering with James and the Cavs' bench and also mocking Damon Jones and his history of antics after making 3-pointers. He has the latest laugh for now.
Cut through all that fun banter and drama, though, and there is still a Cavs team that allowed another opponent to do what it wanted on offense.
The Wizards shot 49 percent in the win, just the most recent team to get the better of the Cavs in that statistic, and after a while it stops becoming a coincidence. Monday's win over the Portland Trail Blazers was accented by how rugged the Cavs played without the ball, but that has been the exception.
Forgetting the Portland game, the Cavs have allowed 102 points and 49 percent shooting over the last five games. After building a lead heading into the locker room at halftime, the Cavs let Washington shoot 70 percent in the third quarter to lose control of the game.
''It is the same old story,'' Cavs coach Mike Brown said. ''We've had the same problems for much of the season.''
Sasha Pavlovic was a bright spot for the Cavs. Playing his second game after being out six weeks with a foot injury, he had a season-high 24 points. But he fouled out in the fourth quarter, hurting the stretch run.
Ben Wallace also played well coming back from back spasms, scoring eight points with eight rebounds and three blocks.
The Wizards were led by Caron Butler's 19 points but had seven players in double figures, including Antawn Jamison, who had 17.
Brian Windhorst can be reached at bwindhor@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/cavs/.
WASHINGTON: With all the injuries, holdouts and trades, the Cavaliers have constantly looked different throughout this turbulent season.
Get the full article here.
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