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 It was the Cavaliers' first home loss of the season following a 9-0
start at Quicken Loans Arena. Cleveland had won 29 of their previous
30 home games.
Cleveland's LeBron James scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds,
but committed nine turnovers. The Cavaliers (13-5) shot 33.7 percent
and committed 18 turnovers.
They still possess the best record in the East, but are 5-4
following an eight-game winning streak.
The Wizards (7-8) badly underperformed throughout the early stages
of this season, but belted the best team in the East on their home
floor after dropping three of four to the Cavaliers last season.
"I had some lineups out there tonight that I don't know if I would
have dreamed about," Wittman said. "But I give them credit. Our guys
did everything that they possibly could and it was enough."
Wittman's job security came into question during the Wizards' dismal
start. For at least one night, they looked every bit the team that
won 46 games last season and advanced to the second round of the
playoffs.
Wittman went extra small in the fourth, with three guards and no
player over 6 feet 9 inces. Marcin Gortat, despite piling up 15
points and 11 rebounds, did not enter in the fourth until 2:47
remained.
The Wizards did not wait until the fourth to push the tempo - Wall
did that all night. He added 10 assists (and five turnovers) while
producing the Wizards' first 30-point game of the season.
It has been a miserable start to the season for Wall, who began the
game shooting 39 percent. His 21 points by halftime were more than
he scored in all but two of the Wizards' first 14 games.
"I can't say my team mates are doing something wrong because I've
been getting the shots I always get, I'm just not making them," Wall
said. "It's frustrating."
The Wizards led by as many as 22 in the third quarter - the
Cavaliers' largest deficit of the season - but guard Matthew
Dellavedova scored 10 points in the third to bring them back.
His three-pointer with a minute left pulled Cleveland within 78-67,
but Bradley Beal and Wall consistently made big shots to keep the
Cavs at bay.
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Beal scored 18 points, including 13 in the second half, while Wall
finally enjoyed a bit of a reprieve. Wall has not hidden during his
struggles, in fact he has been doing the exact opposite.
"I read everything, I hear everything that people say, because I
like it," Wall said. "You've got to take the criticism if you're
going to take the praise."
James has certainly been dishing out the criticism on his team mates
privately and publicly in recent weeks, chastising mistakes and
lackadaisical effort when he felt the Cavaliers were coasting
through portions of games and the schedule.
Kevin Love had eight points and eight rebounds, and J.R. Smith added
13 points. The two combined to shoot 5-for-24 and the Cavaliers
never led after falling in a 10-0 hole in the first three minutes.
"They beat us from beginning to end," James said. "They beat us in
every facet of the game, right from the beginning. Their pace, their
speed, their ability to get the ball up the floor really caused us
problems tonight."
The Wizards lost their last two road games prior to Tuesday by a
combined 47 points.
"We are an unpredictable team," Gortat said. "Last year, we proved
we could beat good teams by 20, but we can lose at Philly. We are a
crazy team.
"If John and Bradley play like that, we're going to be all right.
We're going to have success."
(Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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Wall
powers Wizards past Cavaliers
