Cavs Drop Wizards in D.C.

Harangody's Big Effort Lifts Wine and Gold
Joe Gabriele | Cavs.com Beat Writer
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Donald Sloan
The Cavaliers haven’t racked up a bunch of wins in the first couple weeks of April. But the storylines in the victories they’ve notched have been pretty wild.

Are we really ready for “Lukesanity”?

It’s probably too early for that. But Saturday night did serve up another of those storylines, as Luke Harangody got the first start of his NBA career – one night after starting a playoff game for the Cavs’ D-League affiliate Canton Charge – and led the Cavs to the 98-89 win over the Wizards.

With the Cavaliers in the middle of a weekend back-to-back-to-back, Coach Byron Scott gave Antawn Jamison the night off – his first of the year. Harangody, the second-year forward from Notre Dame, netted 16 points in Canton’s 108-93 Game 1 win over Springfield. On Saturday night, he did the same thing in the big leagues.

“(Harangody) was the MVP tonight,” praised Byron Scott. “For him to play in a D-League game last night and then to come start for us tonight was really great. You have to give him a lot of credit. He was definitely ready to play.”

His 16 points and 10 rebounds both paced the Cavaliers – with four of those boards coming on the offensive end. Harangody’s three-pointer to start the fourth quarter snapped a 73-73 tie and his 18-footer gave the Wine and Gold a nine-point lead midway through the period.

“The last week has been kind of a whirlwind for me, and nothing surprises me now,” said Harangody. “When he said that, I was like, this is my opportunity. Don’t try to do anything special and just make the best out of it.”

The Cavaliers were in control of Saturday’s contest for most of the night. The Wizards never led after the second quarter.

On the night, Cleveland shot 52 percent from the floor and every member of its starting lineup scored in double-figures, with Lester Hudson adding 10 off the bench.

Anthony Parker continued to shoot the ball well – following up with 15 points, going 4-of-5 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the stripe. A.P. also led Cleveland with five assists.

Tristan Thompson added 14 points and a team-high two blocked shots, Donald Sloan had a solid 13-point, four-assist effort and Alonzo Gee added 11 points and a pair of steals.

John Wall led both teams with 19 points and nine assists and rookie Jan Vesley doubled up with 11 and 11.

The Cavaliers wrap up their three-games-in-three-nights stretch on Sunday evening at The Q when they welcome the Dwight Howard-less Magic to town.

  • Antawn Jamison took a night off for the first time this season. He’s been an iron man his entire career. He didn’t miss a single game from the 2000-01 through the ’03-04 season.

  • With Luke Harangody leading the team in scoring on Saturday, he became the 11th player to lead the squad this year. Omri Casspi led the team for the first time on Friday. Antawn Jamison has done so 25 times, Kyrie Irving, 22. Anthony Parker and Alonzo Gee have led the team twice.

  • Over Anthony Parker’s last five games, he’s averaging 15.0 points per contest – shooting .613 from the floor and .917 from the stripe.

  • The Cavaliers earned their 10th road win of the season on Saturday night – three more than last season with four more games away from The Q remaining.