Wrap-Up – In two of Cleveland’s previous two home wins, the Wine and Gold had to overcome double-digit deficits to remain unbeaten at The Q – and they rallied from seven down in the fourth quarter to snap their road skein last Friday in Charlotte.
In other words, the Cavs have been playing with fire recently. And on Tuesday night, they got burned.
The struggling Wizards – who came into the game riding a four-game losing streak, dropping three of those by an average of 21.3 per – took advantage of a slow-starting Cavaliers club, racing out to a big second-half lead and holding on to hand Cleveland its first home loss of the 2015-16 season, a 97-85 decision on Tuesday night in Cleveland.
LeBron James led four Cavaliers in double-figures with 24 points and 13 boards, going 8-of-20 from the floor and adding four assists, a steal and a blocked shot. Unfortunately, James also accounted for nine of Cleveland’s 19 turnovers.
Matthew Dellavedova came off the bench to follow up with 15 points in the loss – going 5-for-9 from the floor, including a perfect 3-of-3 from long-distance. Delly’s fellow point guard, Mo Williams, added 12 points of his own, hitting on 5-of-10 shots, 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.
But neither player had any luck with Washington’s two-time All-Star, John Wall, who led everyone with a season-high 35 points – going 14-for-24 from the field, including 3-of-5 from deep. The lightning-quick Wall also led everyone with 10 assists – as many as the Cavaliers’ starters combined – and added five steals, one more than Cleveland’s combined starters.
J.R. Smith rounded out the Cavaliers in double-figures, finishing with 13 points despite not shooting the ball well. The struggling Smith, who went 3-for-14 from the field on Tuesday, is now just 6-of-26 over this last two outings.
On the plus side, Tristan Thompson finished with 11 boards on Tuesday night – his seventh straight game with double-digit rebounds.
Despite grabbing eight more boards than the Wizards, the Wine and Gold were mauled in the paint – 44-22. Cleveland handed out only 15 assists, a season-low at The Q, and committed 19 turnovers that led to 25points. The Cavaliers never led during Tuesday night’s contest.
Turning Point — After trailing by only three after one quarter, the Wizards held the Cavaliers to 30 percent shooting in the second quarter to open up a double-digit edge at intermission.
But Washington didn’t let up in the second stanza, opening the third quarter on a 13-4 run to up their advantage to 22 at 69-47. Seven straight points by Delly and a J.R. Smith trey cut the Wizards lead to 12 late in the period, but Cleveland couldn’t get the key stops down the stretch and couldn’t cut Washington’s lead to single-digits.
Tristan Thompson’s free throws with 2:47 to play got the Cavaliers to within 10 – 95-85 – but they’d get no closer the rest of the way.
By the Numbers – 4.32 … Matthew Dellavedova’s assist-to-turnover ratio so far this season – handing out 95 helpers to just 22 miscues. At this pace, Delly would become the first Cavalier in team history to post a ratio over 4.00. (Jeff McInnis [3.97], Foots Walker [3.87], Andre Miller [3.60])
Quotable – LeBron James, giving an honest assessment of Tuesday night’s loss …
“To start off, they beat us from the beginning to the end. With the 10-0 run in the first quarter, to the 7-0 run in the third quarter, they beat us in every facet of the game. Their pace, their speed and their ability to get the ball up the floor really quickly caused us problems tonight.”
Up Next – After having their home win streak snapped on Tuesday night, the Wine and Gold get back on the road this weekend – traveling to the Big Easy for a Friday night matchup with the Pelicans before heading to South Beach for a Saturday night showdown with the Heat. The Wine and Gold return for one game – next Tuesday night when they welcome the Blazers – before getting right back on the road, taking on the Magic next Friday, Dec. 11, before taking the Celtics in Boston the following Tuesday.
