Same old, same old. They hang around for a while, people question whether they can actually win, and then they fall apart in the fourth quarter.
I'll have more later, but five things jumped out at me.
1. Antawn Jamison doing nothing in the second half after Cleveland finally decided to double-team him.
2. Brendan Haywood and Andray Blatche playing no meaningful minutes in the second half, even as the Cleveland bigs dominated Etan, Songaila, and Ruffin.
3. Larry Hughes somehow hitting 9 of his 17 shots. The guy just gets up for the Wizards. The Wizards did nothing wrong on him, and he still made great shots.
4. DeShawn Stevenson disappearing once again, and Jarvis Hayes having the most inconsistent 17-point game in the history of mankind.
5. Antonio Daniels playing his heart out. He almost singlehandily kept the Wizards in the game by controlling the tempo and running the offense. He's the most important player for the Wizards, and I can't imagine how he plays any better in future games.
The pervailing message is that this loss is enouraging. I just don't see it. Cleveland's defense is just too good, and if Hughes is hitting those shots, the Cavs offense is fine.
Today pretty much confirmed what we already knew. The Wizards will keep games close, but they just don't have enough to finish things off.