Cavaliers pound Wizards 108-83 on Miracle in Richfield Night
BY STONE LEXINGTON
CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER
Entering Friday, the Cleveland Cavaliers held a slim two-game lead over the Toronto Raptors for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. If both teams finish the regular season with the same record, Toronto holds the tiebreaker over Cleveland after winning the season series 2-1. While it’s always important for teams to play well down the stretch of the grueling NBA regular season, the Cavs know they have to fend off the surging Raptors if they want to secure home court throughout the East playoffs.
Losing three of their last five games entering Friday, the Cavs know they have to play better, especially with a little more than a month left before the postseason begins.
“I don’t think we’re really going through a tough time,” Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue said before Friday’s matchup against the Washington Wizards. “We lost a couple games. It’s going to happen throughout the course of the season.
“Like Doc Rivers always said, ‘If it’s a happy locker room, then there’s a problem.’ Everything’s great. We lost a couple games. We got beat in Toronto, lost the Washington game, but for the most part I feel good about where we’re at and what we’re doing.”
The Cavs lost back-to-back games to the Raptors and Wizards at the end of February and had another meeting with Washington Friday night as they attempted to even the season series 2-2. LeBron James didn’t play in Cleveland’s last loss to Washington, but the four-time MVP was on the floor against the Wizards Friday night.
What was the difference with James in the lineup? Cleveland hammered Washington 108-83 Friday night in front of a sold-out Q.
“We have I think 22 games left, but we want to get better and we did that tonight,” James said.
James finished with 19 points, a season-high tying 13 rebounds and seven assists, while Kyrie Irving led Cleveland with a game-high 21 points, five rebounds and eight assists. Due to Cleveland’s large lead, James’ services weren’t needed in the fourth quarter. Irving has scored at least 20 points in 12 of his last 16 games, while Cavs center Timofey Mozgov totaled 14 points and five rebounds against Washington.
“For the most part, we were in tune with the gameplan coach Lue and the coaching staff gave us, and we executed,” James said.
When Wizards point guard John Wall converted a layup with 5:09 remaining until halftime, the Cavs had a 42-35 lead. Less than four minutes later, the Cavs had a commanding 18-point lead, their largest in the first half. After Wall’s layup, the Cleveland used a 15-4 run to take a 57-39 lead, capped by a Matthew Dellavedova three-pointer with 1:22 to play in the second quarter. The Cavs took a 59-42 lead into halftime and coasted until the final horn sounded, leading by as many as 30 points in the fourth quarter.
The victory was that much more impressive because Cavs power forward Kevin Love did not play Friday against Washington. Lue said Love was held out for maintenance and to make sure his body is right. The Cavs coach added that Love would be in the lineup Saturday night when Cleveland hosts the Boston Celtics.
Shumpert started in place of Love against Washington. Instead of starting 6-foot-11 Channing Frye or 6-foot-10 Tristan Thompson, Lue said he wanted to experiment with a small-ball lineup.
“I thought it was great for us,” Lue said of the small-ball lineup. “The guys bought into playing that way, that style of basketball.”
Wall finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Wizards forward Markieff Morris chipped-in 13 points and five rebounds.
With the win over Washington, the Cavs extended their Eastern Conference-best home record to 26-5, which should give the team incentive to secure home-court throughout the East playoffs.
“I think a rhythm coming down the stretch is very serious for us,” Lue said. “That’s why we can rest guys earlier, and then coming down the stretch of the season, have some momentum going into the playoffs.”
POSTED 03/04/2016 23:59
Lake County Sentinel
