Cavaliers 93, Wizards 89 [box]
In a way that I now take back, I said that all I wanted for Christmas was an embarrassment of the Washington Wizards. Now that I sit back and realize that the game is actually over, I cannot believe that said game was as much of a game as it was.
At no point in this season should this Cavalier team rely on free throws from Anderson Varejao. At no point should we bank on a game where Caron Butler goes 3-for-13 from the floor for a night of six points. And in no way should a Cavs fan expect to win a game where Ben Wallace (six points) outscores Zydrunas Ilgauskas (five points). But we did. And we won. But we did not deserve it.
Mo Williams may have had 24 points and six assists to go along with his four three-point field goals. However, the Cavaliers also allowed a point guard in Mike James (albeit talented), a guard who was not on this team more than a few weeks, to spring for 26 points with five treys. This was a game that would make most fans drop jaws if if was Agent Zero. Instead, it was agent “Who the heck is that guy?” It was the same guy that was that hasn’t seen double-digit minutes since Houston in the mid-90s, and he torched this Cavaliers team.
Perhaps it was a lackadaisical defense. Perhaps we underestimated the team that we played. The Wizards shot 43 percent from the floor. Their All-Star forward was held to single digts. Yes, Antawn Jamison had a good game, but that’s expected. What’s also expected is Zydrunas Ilgauskas gets more than five shots against a team with nearly no front court. We take 19 more free throws than our opposition, and barely escape with a win?
This one was lucky, fans. If we would have played at this level against either the Lakers or Celtics on the same night, it would have been embarrassing. This is one of those games where we look at the “W” and attempt to ignore the rest. Like it or not, we’re fortunate that the home record is still in tact.
Miami on Sunday. We’ll see which team shows up.
