3-25-17 vs. Wizards

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Wrap-Up -- After an absolutely scorching first quarter on Saturday night at The Q, it was expected that at some point the Wizards would have to cool down.

For the second time in their last three outings, the road-weary Cavaliers were cut up on the defensive end – falling to a Wizards squad that shot 60 percent from the floor and pulled away for the 127-115 decision.

And as painful as the Nuggets loss was last week in Denver, this one hurt a little more in the standings. This one allowed the idle Celtics to climb to within a half-game of the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference standings, with Washington not far behind – pulling to within 2.5 games away with the win.

In one of the most difficult stretches of the season – returning from a four-game trip, facing Washington in the second-half of a back-to-back and heading right back out for a two-gamer beginning with the Spurs on Monday – the Wine and Gold fell for the third time this week.

The Wizards, also coming off a back-to-back, were scalding hot from the floor in the first quarter – going 18-of-22 from the floor, with John Wall leading the way with an 18-point period on a perfect 8-for-8 shooting.

But despite still shooting at a 70 percent clip after two quarters, putting up a 71-point first half, Washington only led by 10 points at intermission. The Cavaliers clawed back to within three late in the third quarter, but couldn’t get over the hump the rest of the way.

LeBron James – who was listed as questionable before the game with a right eye corneal abrasion suffered the previous night in Charlotte and played the first four minutes with goggles – led the way with 24 points on 10-for-21 shooting for Cleveland.

On the night, LeBron tallied his career-best 37th double-double of the season – adding a game-high 11 boards, a team-best eight assists and a blocked shot.

Kyrie Irving extended his NBA-leading streak of consecutive 20-point games to 21 straight – following up with 23 points, going 8-for-23 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the stripe, adding four assists, a steal and a pair of blocked shots.

Kevin Love, playing in the second game of a back-to-back for the first time since returning from knee surgery, tallied 17 points on 5-for-11 shooting – adding seven boards, a steal and a block.

For the second straight night, the Cavaliers bench was efficient – while putting up some of the squad’s best +/- numbers. All told, Cleveland’s reserves were a combined 12-for-18 from the floor, with Richard Jefferson (10 points), Kyle Korver (10) and Deron Williams (9) leading the way.

Five Cavs score in double figures but it's not enough against the Wizards.

The Wizards were led by Wall, who paced both teams with 37 points – dissecting Cleveland’s defense on 14-for-21 shooting to go with 11 assists, four boards and a pair of steals.

Bradley Beal followed up with 27 points of his own as all five starters and pair of reserves notched double-figures for the Wizards. One of those reserves, Kelly Oubre Jr., was particularly painful to the Wine and Gold on Saturday night – notching 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, going 4-of-4 from the floor in the period.

The Cavaliers were pretty solid offensively – shooting 49 percent on the night, canning 12 triples and equaling Washington’s assist total with 24. But the Wizards were unconscious for most the night, shooting 60 percent from the floor for the game – out-rebounding Cleveland by eight and netting 58 points in the paint.

Turning Point -- There weren’t many turning points in the Cavaliers’ favor on Saturday night. Their biggest lead of the game was two points – at 6-4 less than two minutes into the ballgame.

Cleveland found itself down 17 points in the second quarter, but bounced back after half – putting together a 7-0 run late in the third to get to within three – 92-89.

With 7:38 left in the fourth, Kyle Korver’s triple got Cleveland within striking distance again – 109-105. But John Wall drilled a pair of free throws, followed by Oubre’s pair of putbacks off the offensive glass put the Wizards back up double-digit – an advantage they’d essentially retain for the remainder of the game.

By the Numbers – 7,394 … career assists for LeBron James, passing Maurice Cheeks for 12th place on the NBA’s all-time list. He’ll have to wait until next season to being taking aim at the top 10. Rod Strickland sits in 11th place with 7,987 and Chris Paul is at No. 10 at 8,165.

Quotable – Kevin Love, on the Cavaliers’ need to tighten up over the final few games …

”It’s pretty apparent we have a number of things that we need to address, and just attention to detail is one of them. I think there are absolutely ways that we’re able to get better and back to our style of basketball, and we’ll get there. But we need to take steps in the right direction these last 10 games.”

Up Next -- After Saturday’s disappointing stopover at The Q, the Wine and Gold get right back on the road – traveling to San Antonio for a Monday night matchup with the Spurs followed by a Thursday night showdown with the Bulls in Chicago. On Friday night, they close out the month of March against Philly at The Q – the first of three at home, welcoming the Pacers and Magic to Cleveland before a huge late-season matchup in Boston on April 5.

wall-wizards-too-much-for-cavs-at-the-q

Wall, Wizards Too Much for Cavs at The Q

clejgabriele

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The Cavaliers got just what they needed on Friday night in Charlotte –  a solid win with a full rotation against a quality opponent with a serious challenger on deck. Sounds like a lot for one game, but with 11 contests remaining in the regular season and a pair of squads hot on the Cavaliers’ trail, every game from here on out takes on a little extra weight.

On Friday night, Cleveland swept the season series against the Hornets – their seventh all-time against Charlotte. The Cavaliers – now 10-1 against the Hornets since LeBron James’ return – did it on both ends at the Hive.

Offensively, they shot 55 percent from the floor and 88 percent from the stripe, handing out 26 assists. On the defensive end, they held the Hornets to just 42 percent shooting, including 26 percent from long-range.

After winning seven of eight to position themselves behind Boston and Cleveland in the East, the Wizards have come back to Earth – dropping four of five before getting wins over Atlanta and Brooklyn this week.

Washington is also playing the second-half of a back-to-back, having defeated the Nets by three touchdowns at the Verizon Center on Friday.

The last time these two teams squared off, it was one of the best regular season games of this (or any) year, with LeBron tying the game on a desperation three-pointer with .9 remaining in regulation and Kyrie taking over in overtime – giving Cleveland the dramatic 140-135 win back on February 6.

Despite this game being vital to the East standings, both teams are also focused on the big picture – keeping guys healthy for the upcoming postseason run.

On Friday night, although he ended up tallying 22 points and nine dimes, John Wall fought through a migraine headache that could potentially sideline him on Saturday. The four-time All-Star has been sensational this season. He’s the only player to average at least 20.0 points, 10.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals this year and he, James Harden and Russell Westbrook are the only ones to average a point-assists double-double.

In two games against Cleveland this season, Wall’s averaged 25.0 points and 7.5 assists – but he’s also committed six turnovers in each contest, both losses.

Kyrie Irving comes into the contest as one of the hottest guards in basketball – running his 20-point scoring streak to a career-best 20 games on Friday night – finishing with 26 points to go with seven assists and a game-high four steals.

Uncle Drew has also notched at least 20 points in five straight contests against the Wizards – averaging 26.6 points and 5.6 assists over that span. In the thrilling overtime win in early February, Irving tallied 11 points in the extra-session, including the game-winning bomb with 35 seconds remaining.

LeBron James was spectacular on Friday night in Charlotte, but he took plenty of lumps along the way. Even Coach Tyronn Lue remarked after last night’s win that it was “the most I’ve ever seen LeBron hit the deck.” He suffered a scratched cornea to his right eye when he was poked by Jeremy Lamb late in the third quarter and took a hard fourth-quarter fall on his back that you could hear up in the press section.

Through it all, the 13-time All-Star remained in the game – eventually leading both teams with 32 points – netting 23 of those in the second and scoring Cleveland’s final seven points. James went 9-for-14 from the floor – doubling up for the 36th time this season (matching a career-best) with 11 assists, nine boards, two blocked shots and a steal.

In two wins against Washington this season, the King is averaging 29.5 points on 58 percent shooting, including 75 percent from long-range to go with 8.5 boards, 11.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 2.0 blocks.

In the February 6th thriller in D.C., LeBron had a monster performance – tallying 32 points, going 12-for-18 from the floor and 6-of-8 from deep to go with a career-high 17 assists – becoming the first player in franchise history to post a 32-7-17 in a game.

If he’s able to go, LeBron will lock up with the vastly-improved Otto Porter – who comes into the game as the NBA’s second-best three-point shooter at .442 – trailing only Kyle Korver (.446) for the top spot.

It was a relief to see J.R. Smith snap out of his recent funk on Friday night in Charlotte.

After returning from thumb surgery on March 9, he’s struggled to find his rhythm – and, of course, he’ll be a key component on both ends moving forward if the Cavs hope to repeat as World Champs. Heading into last night’s contest, Swish had gone 10-for-41 from the floor in his previous four outings, including a 1-for-7 performance on Wednesday night in Denver.

Smith didn’t light up the scoreboard on Friday night at the Hive, but he did can three of the five triples he attempted – including a big bomb over an outstretched Nicolas Batum with 4:06 to play after Charlotte cut Cleveland’s lead to a single point.

Smith will have his hands full on Saturday night against Washington’s Bradley Beal, who comes into the game needing just four three-pointers to break Gilbert Arenas’ franchise record. The fifth-year guard from Florida has upped his overall numbers after the All-Star Break for the third straight season and has posted 46 games of at least 20 points.

He’s also had four 40+ point games so far this season – including his sole appearance against Cleveland this year, dropping a game-high 41 points on Cleveland, going 16-for-28 from the floor in a losing effort in the instant classic back on February 6.

While some of the most skilled wing and backcourt players in the Association do their thing on Saturday night at The Q, there will be a pair of durable, blue-collar bigs banging it out in the post.

Washington’s Marcin Gortat has tallied 35 double-doubles so far this season – netting double-digit points in and grabbing double-digit boards in 47 contests this year. The Polish Hammer has posted 11 games of at least 15 rebounds, including Washington’s first meeting with Cleveland this year.

In the February 6th matchup at the Verizon Center, Gortat finished with 16 points, eight boards and three blocks.

In that thriller, Tristan Thompson posted one of his best games of the campaign – going off for a season-best 22 points on 10-for-13 shooting, adding 12 boards (six off the offensive glass).

As he looks to extend his consecutive games-played streak to 442 games on Saturday night, Thompson will try to regain his rhythm as the postseason rapidly approaches. It’s been two weeks since he posted his last double-double. But Tristan is still doing solid work all over the floor – shooting 69 percent from the floor over his last 10 games while remaining one of the league’s top offensive rebounders – averaging 3.7 boards off the offensive glass, good for 5th in the NBA.

keybank-five-keys-cavaliers-vs-wizards

KeyBank Five Keys: Cavaliers vs. Wizards

After a four-game road trip, the Cavaliers are back at The Q on Saturday night where they will take on the Washington Wizards. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m. (ET).

With last night’s 112-105 win at Charlotte, the Cavaliers clinched the Central Division title for the third straight season and sixth time overall (1975-76, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17).

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After shooting .554 (41-74) against the Hornets last night, the Cavs have now shot at least .500 from the field in three consecutive games and 28 times this season (25-3).

The Wine and Gold will finally get some home cooking on Saturday night after having played 10 of their 13 games this month away from the North Coast. Cleveland has the 2nd-best home record in the NBA at 28-7 (.800) and has won 46 straight home games when shooting at least .500 from the field (15-0 this season).

The Cavaliers hope to defend home court against a streaking Washington Wizards squad nipping at the Wine and Gold's heels at the top of the Eastern Conference standings. Like the Cavs, the Wizards are coming off a win on Friday night as Washington took care of the Brooklyn Nets, 129-108, in D.C.

Washington has won two games in a row and with their 44-28 record sit in the the three seed in the East, 3.5 games behind the Wine and Gold. The Wizards are 28-12 since January 1st which is the second most wins in NBA over that span.

Cleveland has won three straight games against Washington and is 7-2 in the last nine meetings.

Radio: WTAM 1100, 100.7 WMMS, 87.7 La Mega

For live in-game updates, follow @cavs, @CavsJoeG, @CavsFredMcLeod, @MrCavalier34, @CavsJMike and @chones22 on Twitter.

Status Update: (Wizards) - None to Report

The Cavaliers won the first two meetings between the Conference foes and will be look to sweep the season series for the fourth time in franchise history (1987-88, 1991-92 &amp; 2012-13).

The last time these two teams faced off, Cleveland defeated Washington, 140-135, in overtime at the Verizon Center on February 6. The 140 points scored by the Cavs were their most in a game since April 9, 1992 (141 points vs. CHA) and the franchise’s most ever in a road game (previously 137 on 2/28/84 at Kansas City Kings).

In the win, Cleveland shot 49-92 (.533) from the field, including 19-38 (.500) from the three-point line, and 23-28 (.821) from the charity stripe. The Cavs also had 31 assists and scored 54 points in the paint. Four Cavs players scored at least 20 points (James, Love, Irving, Thompson) for the first time since March 10, 2015 vs. DAL (James, Irving, Love, Smith).

Saturday's showdown will be the third and final matchup between the two teams this regular season.

Colon Cancer Awareness Night: The Cavaliers will host their annual Colon Cancer Awareness Night on Saturday. In partnership with Fight Colorectal Cancer and Cleveland Clinic, the evening aims to bring awareness to and support the fight against colon cancer. MORE DETAILS

On Monday, it’s a heavyweight showdown with the Spurs in San Antonio followed by a Thursday night meeting with the Bulls in Chicago. The Cavaliers wrap up the month of March next Friday night at The Q against the Sixers. Cleveland has seven regular season games remaining in April – four at home and three on the road, wrapping up with Fan Appreciation Night on the 12th vs. Toronto.FIND SEATS | VIEW FULL SCHEDULE

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#CavsWizards Game Preview - March 25, 2017

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3‑25‑17 vs. Wizards

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