Four reasons Wizards vs. Cavaliers still isn’t a rivalry after the Cavs (3-2) were on the upside of a 30-point swing, turning an 18-point second-quarter deficit into a 102-90 victory over Washington (2-2):
It isn’t a rivalry when the Cavs have won six straight against the Wizards at home. Washington won’t stop that trend if they can’t play well for more than 14 minutes. They took a 37-19 lead at that point of the game on a Mike Miller layup in transition from Randy Foye after Andray Blatche blocked Boobie Gibson and started the break. Then Blatche got his third foul. Then Brendan Haywood got his second and third fouls. Then DeShawn Stevenson got two fouls. Then JaVale McGee got his second, third and fourth fouls. (Fabricio Oberto was already on the bench with two personals, too.) The margin was four at halftime, and the second half was academic.
It isn’t a rivalry when the Wizards can’t stop the 3-pointer. (Augh! The blinding glare of last season!) Cleveland was 42.6 percent from behind the arc. Without Anthony Parker’s bricks (1 for 6), they were 50 percent, led by Gibson (4 for 5, 14 points) and Mo Williams (3 for 4, 15 points). Remember last week, when Washington held Dallas and Atlanta to 22.2 and 25 percent, respectively? By the way, the Wizards themselves were 28.6 (4 for 14) from three.
It isn’t a rivalry when there’s no answer for Shaq. Okay, few teams have an answer for Shaquille O’Neal. But brother, if you can’t spare a foul, and the Wizards wasted them on loose ball personals, the door is wide open for Diesel, who had 21 points on 7 for 9 shooting.
It isn’t a rivalry when there’s no bench production. Blatche — back to earth (7 points, 8 rebounds). Foye — missing (7 points, 1 assist). Caron Butler (22 points, 6 rebounds) had 13 points in the first 11 minutes, and Gilbert Arenas (22 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists) posted 14 by halftime. But their overall production simply didn’t matter. The Wizards were never in the game in the second half.
It definitely isn’t a rivarly if I write this much about a loss and don’t even mention LeBron James.
