Friday, November 21, 2014

Wall's Wizards Cause Cavs to Crumble

By Peyton Wesner

WASHINGTON---The hot ticket for a sports fan living in the Washington metropolitan area was at the Verizon Center as the 7-3 Washington Wizards welcomed the 5-5 Cleveland Cavaliers. Could youth top experience? Would Wall and Beal further prove their argument to Dion Waiters that they are a better one/two guard combo than Irving and Waiters?

In case you have been in a bit of a basketball coma, the Cavaliers are a different team than last year although their record does not hint it at the moment. King James is back and has brought some friends in All-Star Center Kevin Love, and NBA veterans Shaun Marion and Mike Miller. What happened to the past two year's number one picks, Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins? Well, they were shipped to Minnesota in exchange for Kevin Love. I know what you are thinking, if the Cavs have LeBron, Love, and Irving, why do they have a mediocre record of 5-5? Cleveland has struggled this year to say the least. Some have even compared their struggles to Miami's Big Three in LeBron's first season with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. They have showed glimpses of greatness like in their 114-108 overtime win at Chicago and their 118-111 win against a very good New Orleans Pelicans team, but they have also displayed significant struggles as the Cavaliers have lost to the New York Knicks on opening night, the Utah Jazz on a Gordon Hayward buzzer-beater, and the Denver Nuggets at the Quicken Loans Arena ("The Q") (those three teams had a combined 12-24 record going into tonight). The hardships can be pinpointed to a lack of chemistry but only so much can be blamed on that reasoning alone. Of course LeBron is being King James as coming into tonight he is averaging 25.9 points per game, 6.6 rebounds, and 6.8 assists, but Kevin Love has really struggled. Love is only scoring 16.7 points a game while grabbing 10.4 rebounds. Although the rebound numbers are in double figures, the points per game is 10 points less than last year average. Also, he is only shooting 38.9% from the field, 38.9%!?! Love is no doubt a star player but he must improve his shooting percentage.

There something special going on in the nation's capital and it is not new government legislation being passed. The Washington Wizards were two games away from winning in the semi finals of the Eastern Conference playoffs against the number one seeded Indiana Pacers last season and this year they are already off to a fast start as they have won seven of their first ten games. An impressive fact about the seven wins is that all of them have came without Washington's second leading scorer from last season, Bradley Beal. But now with Beal's wrist injury healed, the Wizards are looking like a completed lineup full of youth and experience...the perfect combination. All players in their current starting lineup besides Garrett Temple (8.4 PPG) are averaging double-digit points in addition to Bradley Beal who is, at the moment, coming off the bench. Some think Kevin Durant will come play for the Wizards when his contract expires with Oklahoma City after the 2015-2016 season since he is from the D.C. area, which would make Washington a championship contender. The thing is they may already be one.

The ball game started off with a LeBron James missed three pointer for Cleveland. Little did anyone know so early in the game that misses and turnovers would define the Cavaliers performance on this Friday night.

Despite an empty possession to start the game, Cleveland got off to a hot start by jumping out to a 13-8 lead causing Washington's coach, Randy Wittman to call a time out with the purpose of stopping the early Cleveland run. During the run LeBron and Irving had 10 of the 13 Cleveland points but soon momentum shifted as arguably the best duo of guards in the Eastern Conference, Bradley Beal and John Wall, took over the game. Together the two scored the next fourteen points for the Wizards turning the five point deficit into a five point lead for Washington going into the quarter break.

When the second quarter started, the Kevin Seraphin show begun. Seraphin scored all of his twelve points in the twenty-nine point quarter for the Wizards. To go along with his twelve points, he had six rebounds and three blocks. Also, his basket at the 5:33 mark gave the Wizards' a double-digit lead, which they would never relinquish. 

The Cavaliers had a few little runs in the second half that kept the game somewhat close but every time the momentum was beginning to shift in favor of Cleveland, John Wall would stop the Cavs' mini run from becoming a big run ultimately restoring the double digit lead.

A big factor to Washington's win tonight was there defense as Cleveland shot a pitiful 36% percent from the field. Not only did Washington cause Cleveland to shoot terribly by contesting shots, the Wizards out-rebounded Cleveland 45-41 while forcing the Cavs' offense into nineteen turnovers. Impressively, the Wizards did not allow the Cavaliers to make another field goal after Mike Miller's three pointer shot with 9:15 to go in the fourth quarter. 

If anyone should be receiving consideration for the game ball tonight in the Washington Wizards' locker room besides John Wall, it should be Paul Pierce. He didn't have a great offensive game like Wall or Beal as he only had nine points and five rebounds but his defense on LeBron was NEAR PERFECT. Pierce held James to one for eight shooting when he guarded the former NBA MVP. In addition, he forced James to shoot all of his shots from beyond twenty feet. Maybe Pierce can't outscore LeBron anymore but he sure can shut his offense down.

After the final buzzer sounded the final score from the battle of Eastern Conference contenders was Washington 91, Cleveland 78 (season low).

NOTES

Although the sold out crowd primarily payed the high ticket prices to see LeBron's new big three, John Wall outshined all the men on the court tonight. Wall truly stuffed the stat sheet with his twenty eight points, six rebounds, seven assists, and four steals.

Irving, James, and Love struggled again as they shot a combined 18/45 from the field. Love only ended up with eight points and eight rebounds while James and Irving both ended up with twenty two points apiece.

What's Next?

If Cleveland thought playing teams like Utah, Denver, and Boston, was hard, the schedule does not get any easier to finish the month. Tomorrow the Cavaliers host the team with the best record in the Eastern Conference, the Toronto Raptors, and then the Washington Wizards again on November 26, at "The Q" rather than the Verizon Center.

The Wizards next five games feature teams that all contain records over .500 besides Cleveland (5-6). The game in Cleveland next Wednesday should not be missed by any basketball fan as it has the chance to be a very competitive game since Cleveland will come out with a determination not to lose again to a conference rival in a span of six days. Also the games against New Orleans and Miami can be considered "measuring stick" games for the Wiz as New Orleans could be a playoff team in the West and Miami is the team standing in Washington's way to win the Southeast Division crown.

Players of the Game:
Cleveland: LeBron James 22 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists.
Washington: John Wall 28 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals.

Next Game:
Cleveland: Tomorrow at home against 10-2 Toronto.
Washington: Tomorrow at 7-6 Milwaukee.



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