Cavaliers are never competitive in handing Washington its first road win of the season.
View full size"The bottom line is we played like you-know-what," a frustrated Byron Scott said after Sunday's loss to the Wizards. "We've got to play better and it's got to be a committed effort every single night."CLEVELAND, Ohio -- After 55 games and only nine victories, after a record-setting losing streak and endless soul-searching, Byron Scott admitted Sunday that he's at a loss to explain his Cavaliers.
The Cleveland coach doesn't understand how a team can come out so flat, time after time. He can't explain the lack of heart or the lack of focus.
And he certainly doesn't understand how a team that finally secured a win to end a 26-game losing streak displayed so little effort in falling to the formerly winless-on-the-road Washington Wizards, 115-100, at The Q.
"I'm still trying to figure them out," Scott fumed afterward. "Because to me, that was ridiculous."
Two days after shrugging a monstrous monkey off their backs when they defeated the L.A. Clippers to stop their losing streak, the Cavaliers fell to an opponent that had not won a road game in 25 tries. They did it with 17 turnovers, with a defense that allowed Washington to shoot 54 percent, and with a flat start that included a 13-2 run by the Wizards in the first quarter and left Scott shaking his head in bewilderment.
"I don't think there's any way in the world we should have been in that locker room thinking after we got a win against the Clippers that we've arrived or we're better than anybody else," Scott said. "We have to come out with that sense of urgency, and I just didn't see that tonight from the start. It's disappointing."
In the locker room down the hall, however, the Wizards were elated to finally win away from the comforts of home. Five players scored in double digits, led by guard Nick Young's 31 points. Rookie point guard John Wall had 19 points and 14 assists, and tried to explain his feelings after his first NBA road win.
"It felt like Christmas," Wall said.
It was practically a gift from the Cavaliers. So bad was their defense that the Wizards led by 25 in the second quarter as they raced to a 68-46 halftime lead. When Wall's attempt at a one-on-none breakaway dunk clanged off the rim, the Cavaliers rewarded him with an identical opportunity one play later -- that Wall made sure to slam down with both hands.
The Cavaliers did manage to cut the Wizards' lead to 11 points in the fourth quarter after a 10-3 spurt, but as in so many losses before, it was too little, too late.
"We're not a team that can come out flat and win it all in the fourth quarter," center J.J. Hickson said.
Scott concurred, and was dismayed most by the lack of overall effort. If he can't figure out what makes his team tick, he's at least noticed a pattern -- whenever the Cavaliers seem to click in one game, they follow with a lackadaisical effort. They won the season opener over Boston, Scott reminded, then fell to Toronto in spectacular fashion the next game. After nearly pulling off a victory in Dallas, they fell with a similar lack of effort to Detroit.
And now, this. Scott wasn't sure how his Cavaliers would explain this loss.
"I hope they don't have any excuses," he said. "Just tell the truth. The bottom line is we played like you-know-what. We've got to play better and it's got to be a committed effort every single night.
"Playing hard should not be a skill. It shouldn't. That's your job: Come out and play hard. Hard as you can for 48 minutes. Tonight, we did that for maybe 24 minutes. And we're not good enough to do that for 24 minutes."
When asked if he knows what makes his teammates tick, Hickson paused for a moment.
"Nah," he admitted, shrugging.
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2011/02/cleveland_cavaliers_latest_los.html
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