Wizards beat short-handed Cavs, end skid
November 18, 2009
WASHINGTON (AP)—With LeBron James(notes) taking a second-half breather, GilbertArenas(notes), Antawn Jamison(notes) and Caron Butler(notes) put the Washington Wizards way ahead.
When James returned to the court, instead of leading a comeback, he becamepart of the problem in his Cleveland Cavaliers’ 108-91 loss to Washington onWednesday night.
The reigning NBA MVP threw an errant pass. He shot an airball. He fouledDeShawn Stevenson(notes), his old pseudo-rival from postseasons past. He missed anotherjumper with Stevenson in his face. He drew a technical for asking for a foulwhen Stevenson stopped him on a drive.
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Cleveland Cavaliers forward Le… AP – Nov 18, 8:50 pm EST YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_last_index = 8; YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_lazy_images = [http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091119/capt.6ca6d5f027d04fb397aa639e5e00e56c.cavaliers_wizards_basketball_vzn108.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=17&yc=1&wc=369&hc=410&q=70&sig=r9dO2epC4pjS0oKJ88e6TA--,http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091119/capt.c6bca735d346408fae9aa15a1b03eaca.cavaliers_wizards_basketball_vzn107.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=53&yc=1&wc=304&hc=338&q=70&sig=LLwVw2wVWhZ6rsLhDI9Sgg--,http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091119/capt.4f351738510a41ce8a497b0984f588c3.cavaliers_wizards_basketball_vzn105.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=14&yc=1&wc=368&hc=409&q=70&sig=x6iGUD2S.vCUASlm1smzBA--,http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091119/capt.1d58a5ddb3a84affa904276d484f0a41.cavaliers_wizards_basketball_vzn106.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=1&yc=1&wc=286&hc=318&q=70&sig=Vj2LHCPnZ_Ji6rewZo9XNA--,http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091119/capt.07c35c289ca4422692b06ac866092499.cavaliers_wizards_basketball_vzn104.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=1&yc=1&wc=333&hc=370&q=70&sig=rF3YkJEGcxhwzsySPNLVdA--,http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091119/capt.1c4f08f8f44a44ea94a78c5d950f7d5f.cavaliers_wizards_basketball_vzn101.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=1&yc=1&wc=294&hc=327&q=70&sig=w34SpA2a7rXbe1JsUyn8Hg--,http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091119/capt.7abb1b9f40d441fd8ef9be966074026d.cavaliers_wizards_basketball_vzn103.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=1&yc=1&wc=311&hc=346&q=70&sig=t1_qqcB9aLQ_ylyxSgtY.g--,http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091119/capt.cde95b748be5486c9fc3e5f1a9ca88e9.cavaliers_wizards_basketball_vzn102.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=1&yc=1&wc=305&hc=339&q=70&sig=uvUdl61C5hi3zMsh_UfTNw--]; YAHOO.util.Event.addListener(window,load,YAHOO.Sports.articleLazyLoadCarousel.init); 1 of 9 Cle-Was Gallery function prev_photo() { if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index > 0) { goto_photo(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index – 1); } else { goto_photo(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_last_index); }}function next_photo() { if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index 0) { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_prev, prev); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_prev, prev_disabled); } else { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_prev, prev_disabled); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_prev, prev); } if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index < YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_last_index) { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_next, next); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_next, next_disabled); } else { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_next, next_disabled); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_next, next); }*/}function goto_photo(p) { if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos) { for(i = 0; i < YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos.length; i++) { if (i == p) { YAHOO.util.Dom.setStyle(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos[i], display, ); } else { YAHOO.util.Dom.setStyle(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos[i], display, none); } } if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_page) { YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_page.innerHTML =(p + 1); YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index = p; } } update_buttons();}YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_init = function () { YAHOO.util.Event.addListener(article_carousel_prev, click, prev_photo); YAHOO.util.Event.addListener(article_carousel_next, click, next_photo); YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index = 0; YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_page = YAHOO.util.Dom.get(carousel_page); YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos = YAHOO.util.Dom.getElementsByClassName(item, div, leadphoto); if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos) { goto_photo(0); }}YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_init();
Worst of all? James hurt his left wrist by banging it off the basket whiledunking.
“I hit it pretty bad on the rim,” said James, who finished with 34 pointsand nine assists, but also had six turnovers and shot only 3 of 7 in the fourthquarter. “It’s like you hit your funny bone, but it’s not funny at all.”
His teammates’ play on this night was no laughing matter, either. WithShaquille O’Neal(notes) and Anderson Varejao(notes) out injured, no other member of theCavaliers scored more than 10 points. No one reached double figures in reboundsor assists.
“In general, our entire team—including LeBron—brought the ball to astandstill,” Cavs coach Mike Brown said, “which allows them to do whateverthey did defensively.”
Icing his wrist in the locker room after the game, James noted a 35-15discrepancy in foul shots that favored the hosts, saying: “They definitely gotto the free-throw line way more than we did. We feel we attacked at times, andwe didn’t get the whistle.”
The Cavaliers had been figuring out how to play well short-handed, winningfive consecutive games heading into Wednesday. But after racing to a 17-pointlead in the second quarter, they allowed the Wizards to come back, led mainly byJamison, who was making his season debut after hurting his right shoulder in anexhibition game against Cleveland.
Jamison delivered 31 points and 10 rebounds—and some much-neededleadership—to help Washington end a six-game losing streak.
“Whether we miss a couple of shots or make a run, guys run to the huddlewith their heads down, and that’s something that I knew that I could come in andchange,” said Jamison, who made 12 of 22 shots. “I’ve been sitting down forwhat seems like forever, so I had a lot of energy. I knew it was going to bedifferent.”
Wearing a white protective sleeve over the right shoulder that sidelined himsince October, Jamison looked in midseason form from the start, scoring 13points in the first quarter. And everyone was relieved to see him back: Arenas,Butler, other teammates, coach Flip Saunders.
Saunders: “He makes the offense look so much better.”
Brendan Haywood(notes): “You have to make a decision: Are you going to let himshoot? Are you going to let Gilbert Arenas drive? Are you going to let guys likemyself and Caron get dunks? You’ve got to make your decision, and tonight theydecided to let him shoot. And that was the wrong decision.”
Butler: “He spaces the floor. Obviously, he’s a guy who’s going to knockdown shots.”
Arenas began 3 of 16—and finished 6 for 22—but wound up with 18 points,eight assists and six rebounds as the Wizards finally got to put all three oftheir past All-Stars on the court at the same time.
“It was great having (Jamison) back out there,” Arenas said. “This iswhat we envisioned … during training camp, when everybody was healthy.”
NOTES: Arenas signed up for Twitter but says he won’t post anything on thesocial networking site until he has 1 million followers. Could be quite sometime: Arenas’ feed had fewer than 1,700 followers as of Wednesday. … James hadseven assists in the first quarter. … The Wizards were without F FabricioOberto(notes) (left hamstring). … Cleveland’s Jamario Moon(notes) played despite spraininghis left ankle Tuesday. He had 10 points and five rebounds.
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