One would think Cavs coach Byron Scott would be smiling a little more after the Cavaliers beat the Washington Wizards, 87-84, on Wednesday at Verizon Center to win consecutive games for the first time this season.
“I should be a lot happier than I am, I guess,” he said as the Cavs improved to 7-23 after the battle between the two teams with the worst records in the Eastern Conference. “But some of the boneheaded mistakes that we made, some of the fouls, some of the things we did on the defensive end to allow them to have some of the shots that they had, especially toward the end, we’ve just got to be a little bit smarter when the game’s on the line like that. We had an opportunity to really close it out, and we just couldn’t make free throws.
“Seeing Kyrie [Irving] miss four out of six free throws is unusual. But we won the game, so we’ll see what happens, go home, get some work in and get ready for [Atlanta on] Friday.”
Actually, the Cavs’ flight was delayed by weather Wednesday night, as it was last week heading to Milwaukee. The Cavs are now 2-0 in weather delays.
“I’ll see if I can talk to Mother Nature and see if she can do that about 45 more times,” Scott said with a smile. “That would help.”
Irving led the Cavs with 26 points, eight assists and six rebounds, but he made just 2 of 6 free throws in the fourth quarter.
“Man, I started thinking too much,” Irving said. “After my first two, I moved back on the free-throw line, tried some different things. It just couldn’t fall. It was frustrating. But I’m glad it’s behind me and we got this win.”
Still, Tristan Thompson’s three-point play with 24.4 seconds left gave the Cavs an 85-82 lead, and they were able to hold on. Thompson finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds and struggled mightily against Wizards power forward Nene, who finished with 16 points and seven rebounds for Washington, 3-23, which lost its eighth straight game.
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