NBA Scores 2015: LeBron James’ return can’t stop Cavaliers’ skid

Cleveland loses in Phoenix and falls below .500, Mo Williams scores 52 points plus everything else we learned in the NBA on Wednesday night.

by Yaron Weitzman

Jan 14, 2015, 1:01 PM UTC

Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

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Here's a list of some things that happened in Tuesday night's game in Phoenix between the Cavaliers and Suns: LeBron James shoved David Blatt; J.R. Smith led the Cavaliers in shot attempts; Kevin Love spent the entire fourth quarter on the bench; and Markieff Morris, who came into the night averaging 15 points per game, hit 15 of his 21 shots from the field and scored a career-high 35 points.

All of this led to a 107-100 win for the Suns (23-18). The loss was the Cavaliers' sixth straight and ninth in 10 games. Cleveland is now 19-20, which means they are below .500 for the first time since Nov. 24, when they were 6-7. We are now in January and a Cleveland team featuring Love, Kyrie Irving and LeBron has a worse record than the Milwaukee Bucks.

This is not how the season was supposed to go. First, it was said, the struggles were because the team full of new parts was taking its time to figure stuff out. Then, it was said, the losing streak was because LeBron was out. All of that is true. So is the fact that the season is far from over. But it’s not early anymore, either. The calendar has turned. The Cavaliers have played nearly half their games. By this point the team was supposed to be gearing up for a run at the Eastern Conference’s top spot, not worrying about whether it could figure out a way get itself an extra first round playoff game at home.

LeBron’s return from an eight-game absence on Tuesday was supposed to kick start a turnaround. That it didn’t has to be troubling to the Cavaliers and their fans. Granted, not everything that happened on Tuesday was bad. For one, LeBron looked as fresh and spry as he has all year. He dunked over the Suns and drove through them. He finished with 33 points (on 11-18 shooting), seven rebound and five assists. While Smith leading the team in field goal attempts (19) is probably not something that David Blatt would like witness ever again, the newly-acquired Cavalier did hit 10 of those shots, eight of which came from behind the arc. He finished with 29 points.

But finding silver linings is not the goal here, not for a team that was supposed to be one of the league’s best. As usual the Cavaliers, owners of the NBA’s sixth worst defensive rating (106 points per 100 possessions), didn’t defend. Cleveland allowed Phoenix to shoot 52 percent from the field. The Suns outscored the Cavaliers 11-3 over the game’s final 3:31. That’s what happens when you have to climb back from a 19-point third quarter deficit, like the Cavaliers did. Your energy dries up before the final buzzer sounds.

There’s also the whole Love thing. Earlier this week David Blatt, for some reason, went out of his way to let everyone know that Love “is not a max player.” It’s unclear what his goal behind doing so was. He later apologized and clarified. Backpedalled might be a better word. But that Blatt, just two days later, didn’t play Love for a single second in the fourth quarter against the Suns speaks louder than any statement he could make to the press.

LeBron might be back, but things in Cleveland are far from fixed. Whether they will be at any point this season could soon become a fair question to ask.

3 other things we learned

Mo Williams is the best player in the NBA. OK, that's not actually true, but Williams is now the owner of the NBA's highest individual point total this season after dropping 52 points (yes, you read that correctly) on the Pacers Tuesday in Indiana. It goes without saying that this was a career high for Williams. The Timberwolves won the game 110-101 but who cares about the final score or the other 20 players who stepped onto the court. Instead, let's gaze in awe at Williams' shot chart. He was 19-of-33 from the field and 6-of-11 from behind the arc.

Mo Williams went OFF for a career-high & @MNTimberwolves franchise-record 52 points (!) on 19/33 shooting! pic.twitter.com/d6xpdjAXuc
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) January 14, 2015

So, Mo Williams for M.V.P.?

The Wizards can play with anyone in the NBA. Tuesday in Washington they beat the Spurs 101-93. It's actually Washington's first win over San Antonio since Nov. 12, 2005, a span that covered 17 games between the two teams. But that's not what the focus should be here. With the win the Wizards improved to 26-12. They have the second best record in the Eastern Conference and trail the first place Atlanta Hawks by four games. They have the seventh best defensive rating in the NBA. They have a wizard (pun half-intended) and the conference's best point guard in John Wall, who had 25 points and eight assists against the Spurs, running things on offense. Washington is also getting major contributions off the bench from guys like Kevin Seraphin (17 points and eight rebounds Tuesday) and Kris Humphries (10 points and eight rebounds Tuesday). They may not be as fun a story as the Hawks or have as stacked a roster as the Bulls, but that doesn't mean the Wizards should be ignored. They're as good as any team in the Eastern Conference.

Al Horford and DeMarcus Cousins are both awesome at lots of things. Horford on Tuesday recorded his first ever triple double, with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Yeah, it came against the 76ers -- a game which the Hawks won in Philadelphia 105-87 -- but we’ll still count it. (It’s also worth noting that the win was the Hawks’ ninth in a row, and that they’re now an insane 30-8.) Meanwhile, in Sacramento, DeMarcus Cousins was one assist away from recording a triple double of his own. He had 32 points and 16 rebounds, to go along with nine assists, in the Kings’ 108-104 overtime loss to the Mavericks. This year’s All Star selection process is going to be tough.

Play of the Night

Did we mention that Mo Williams scored 52 points?

9 fun things

Andrew Wiggins, who's been balling recently, tried to make things harder for himself by using his off-hand to cover his eyes during a layup.

Just more John Wall being John Wall.

K.J. McDaniels should be in this year’s Slam Dunk contest.

The headline: Jeff Gordon dominates tricycle race at Wizards game. Enjoy.

Here’s LeBron shoving David Blatt out of the way. This is not a metaphor.

As mentioned above, one silver lining for the Cavsmavs could be that LeBron looked explosive and fast Tuesday night. In fact he dunked just four minutes into the game. Maybe those two weeks off actually did make a difference.

You’ll never guess who was the last member of the Minnesota Timberwolves to score 50 points. Seriously.

Your daily dose of Stephen Curry being awesome.

Tyson Chandler gunning for an Oscar.