The Cleveland Cavaliers were blown out by the Washington Wizards on Sunday, but a lot of that probably had to do with LeBron James being given the day off. J.R. Smith does not see that as a viable excuse.
After the 113-99 loss, Smith went off about the lack of focus his team showed.
“If we’re going to play with a lack of energy … and come out and play the way we did today, we shouldn’t be who we are and be in these uniforms,” he said, according to The Associated Press. “We can’t play basketball like this going down the stretch. You talk about contending or being a championship contender and you’re blown out … and get trashed, make it look good at the end. We can’t do that. If we’re serious about who we’re supposed to be, we can’t do this.”
The Cavs trailed Washington by 30 at one point. They are in the middle of a stretch of three games in four days, which is why head coach Tyronn Lue decided to rest LeBron. Cleveland lost a close game to the Toronto Raptors on Friday.
It was only the second time James sat out this season for rest, and we all know how he felt about it the last time. Watching his team get torched can’t have been easy, and that probably explains why LeBron left the locker room without speaking to reporters.
The Cavs are still clinging to the top seed in the Eastern Conference, and you could argue that Smith is overreacting to a LeBron-less regular season loss. However, the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors seem to bring it every night, as their 53-5 record indicates. If the Cavs want to dethrone them, taking nights off in the playoffs won’t be an option.
