NEW YORK: Hours after J.R. Smith said he believed his team was finally headed in the right direction, the S.S. Cavalier veered off course and sank again, this time in the Hudson River against the second-worst team in the East.
The Cavaliers went scoreless for more than six minutes late in the game, marring a terrific shooting night from LeBron James in a 104-95 loss to the hapless Brooklyn Nets. It was just the Nets’ second win in their last nine games.
James made his first 10 shots and finished 13-of-16 shooting, one of the best shooting nights of his career. But it didn’t matter because the Nets scored 14 consecutive points late in the game. Matthew Dellavedova’s 3-pointer with 6:11 left was the last basket the Cavs scored until a Jordan McRae 3-pointer in the game’s final seconds. By then, it didn’t matter. It was another bad loss for a Cavs team that continues to stumble toward the finish of the regular season.
James scored 30 points to go with six rebounds and five assists, while Kyrie Irving scored 13 points. Kevin Love had 11 points and 12 rebounds, but missed all five of his 3-point attempts. He and Channing Frye combined to shoot 1-of-11 from 3-point range.
The loss came hours after the Cavs strung together two home wins — against sub-.500 opponents — and had Smith hopeful that the Cavs were taking the final 10 games of the season seriously.
“I think we’re getting to understand this is the time to start buckling up tight,” Smith said prior to the game. “We’re moving in the right direction.”
Not anymore.
The Cavs trailed by 13 in the second quarter before James scored half of his points in the third on an assortment of drives and dunks, rarely taking a shot outside the paint and even making a 3-pointer as the shot clock was winding down.
James’ first miss came when he tried dunking a missed shot, but he collided with Timofey Mozgov at the rim and was assessed a miss.
James didn’t miss many others, but the rest of his teammates did. The Cavs shot 26 percent from 3-point range, while Nets point guard Shane Larkin had 16 points and seven assists in just his sixth start — including his first in more than two months.
The Cavs will have plenty of time to stew over this one, because they aren’t going anywhere. They’ll remain in New York until Saturday, when they face the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.