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Winning streak ends at 11 after Williams and West miss late 3-pointers
By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published on Sunday, Dec 14, 2008
ATLANTA: All good things come to an end.
Although the Cavaliers looked invincible during an 11-game winning streak, that ended Saturday amid frustration in a 97-92 loss to the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena.
LeBron James finished with 33 points, nine assists and six rebounds, and Mo Williams scored 26 points, but it wasn't enough.
The Hawks led almost from the start as they outrebounded the Cavs and generally outhustled them, putting the Cavs in a precarious situation. The Hawks were ahead by 14 in the third quarter, making a Cavs comeback look unlikely.
But despite that lead, the Cavs had an opportunity to tie the game in the final seconds. A 3-point attempt by Mo Williams hit the rim with a thud. James tapped it out to Delonte West, who also missed a 3-point try. That sealed the Cavs' fate.
Fans could see the exasperation on successive possessions when officials called a technical on James with 6:24 left in the third quarter for protesting a noncall.
Moments later, the words that flew from forward Ben Wallace's mouth were indisputable as he registered his reaction to being called for a foul on Hawks forward Josh Smith.
The noncalls showed in the final score as the Cavs shot only 23 free throws to the Hawks' 39.
Cavs coach Mike Brown refused to tag the refs with the loss.
''We didn't lose the game because of that, but I was a little shocked with the way the disparity was,'' Brown said. ''You question some calls, but I'm sure when we win some games, our opponents question some calls too; so I'm OK with it.''
Still the Cavs wouldn't roll over and allow the Hawks to continue to peck away at them until they surrendered. Instead, playing the way Brown preaches, they stayed relentless on the defensive end of the floor and gnawed away at the Hawks' lead.
James prodded teammates into action with emotion and skill. With 4:11 left in the third, he took the ball off the dribble and slammed a dunk.
With 2:20 left in third, James found Anderson Varejao (11 points, eight rebounds) streaking toward the hoop for a wide-open slam. With the clock ticking away in the third quarter, Varejao blanketed forward Al Horford until he finally drew an offensive foul. By that time, momentum took a decided swing in favor of the Cavs. They'd almost erased the 14-point lead, ending the quarter with the Hawks ahead 68-66.
With 11:40 left in the fourth, the Cavs tied it at 68-68. Then the game evolved into a test of wills as the teams traded free throws and baskets. Varejao delivered a crucial two points with the score 80-79 in favor of the Hawks and drew the foul from Smith. Unfortunately for the Cavs, he missed a free throw that would have tied the game again.
Back and forth they went, but ultimately it came down to a rare occurrence — the inability of the Cavs to get defensive stops down the stretch as Hawks guard Joe Johnson scored 11 points in the final quarter.
James made no excuses.
''It was just a matter of who got more stops in the end, and the Hawks came up with more than we did,'' he said. ''We definitely had our chances tonight, but the Hawks just made more plays.''
Brown blamed the loss on a lack of communication.
''Starting with me, we didn't do a good job down the stretch offensively and defensively communicating with one another making sure things were handled the right way on both sides of the ball,'' Brown said.
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read the Cavs blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/cavs/.
ATLANTA: All good things come to an end.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Posted 10:04 AM, 12/14/2008
Cav's played a decent team...that's what really happened.
Wooster, Oh
Posted 02:07 PM, 12/14/2008
"Cav's played a decent team...that's what really happened."
The Cavs (no apostrophe needed) while playing the 2nd night of a back-to-back with two of its prime players on the bench took a playoff team on its home floor to the last 10 seconds. They absorbed their 4th loss, all on the road against A-list teams, against 20 wins.
They sure as heck deserve better than a "oh well, what do you expect" comment that makes one wonder about the sports IQ of some so-called "fans."
Posted 03:05 PM, 12/14/2008
It seemed there was too much fatigue coupled with the injuries. Lebron played alot of minutes, but we really lost the game in the rebounding battle and at the line. These are usually our strong points, so you have to give the team credit for hanging in there.
