Cavaliers continue losing streak
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ woes continued with a 116-112 overtime loss at home to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday. Not even a second straight triple-double from superstar LeBron James—24 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists—could lift the Cavs, who have lost their last three games. James missed a triple with 10 seconds left.
ANGELES— The NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers’ struggles continued with an overtime loss to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday as the Golden State Warriors got back on track with a victory over the Charlotte Hornets.
Not even a second straight triple-double from superstar LeBron James could lift the Cavs, who fell 116-112 and have lost their last three games and six of their last eight.
“Just try to get better,” was James’ prescription. “We’ve got to get better that’s all.
“We had our opportunities. It don’t matter who we go against, if they’re sub-.500 or plus-.500, we know we’re going to get everybody’s best, so we’ve just got to be better.”
The comments were tame compared to the tirade James delivered after Monday’s loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, calling the squad “top-heavy” and questioning management’s commitment to retaining the championship.
Cavs general manager David Griffin met with James about the outburst, saying it “certainly wasn’t appropriate from a teammate perspective.”
Although he and coach Tyronn Lue said the air had been cleared, the Cavs couldn’t reverse their fortunes on court in Cleveland.
After Aaron Afflalo’s three- pointer with 30.8 seconds left in overtime put Sacramento up 115-112, James missed a threepointer with 10 seconds remaining and Kings star DeMarcus Cousins capped the scoring with a free throw with five seconds to play.
Cousins scored a game-high 28 points with 11 rebounds, nine assists and three steals.
James scored 24 points with 13 rebounds and 11 assists in defeat.
It seems like when you’re losing, you’re not playing well, every ball bounces the other team’s way, every mistake you pay for it. Tyronn Lue Cleveland coach