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Wizards surprise the Cavs

Source: Agencies | January 6, 2009, Tuesday | Print Edition

THE injury-depleted Cleveland Cavaliers suffered a 80-77 setback to the woeful Washington Wizards on Sunday, but did not lose any ground in their bid to claim the best record in the Eastern Conference.

A 16-foot jump shot along the baseline by Washington's Antawn Jamison with 10.5 seconds left snapped a 77-77 tie and helped the Wizards end their modest two-game losing streak.

"It was a tough night for us," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said following his team's lowest-scoring game of the season. "For some reason, we came out really flat.

"Washington deserved to win. But I know we can play better basketball."

The Central Division-leading Cavaliers fell to 27-6 but remained just a game behind reigning NBA champions and Atlantic Division leaders Boston (29-6) in the East.

The Celtics failed to open up a bigger gap on the Cavaliers when they were beaten by the New York Knicks 100-88 at Madison Square Garden.

Following a foul shot by guard Caron Butler that gave the Wizards a 80-77 lead, Cleveland forward LeBron James misfired on a potential game-tying three-point jumper at the buzzer.

James scored nine of his 30 points in the final quarter, helping fuel a 14-4 Cavaliers surge to tie the score at 77-77 with a minute left.

The four times All Star blamed the loss on the team's 39 percent shooting and the Wizards' big edge on the glass.

"One thing you can't control is making shots every game," he said. "But you can control the defense. Holding a team to 41 percent shooting, that's better than our season average.

"It was their rebounding, their second-chance points that killed us. They did a good job of outworking us today."

In other Sunday games, it was: Raptors 108, Magic 102; Lakers 100, Trail Blazers 86; Pistons 88, Clippers 87; and Grizzlies 102, Mavericks 82.

In Toronto, Canada, Anthony Parker scored a season-high 26 points and Chris Bosh added 23 points and 10 rebounds as the Toronto Raptors overcame a 39-point performance by Orlando's Dwight Howard to beat the Magic.

Parker was 13-of-16 from the field and came within one point of his career high. The Raptors also got 18 points from Andrea Bargnani, 12 from Roko Ukic and 11 from Will Solomon.

Howard matched his career high in both points and field goals, but it wasn't enough for Orlando, which had won 17 of 20 coming in.

In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored 26 points and Pau Gasol added 19 as the Lakers beat Portland for their sixth consecutive victory.



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