WASHINGTON: Tyronn Lue didn’t listen to his gut the first time he wanted to rest LeBron James, but he did Sunday. James sat out the 113-99 loss to the Washington Wizards, the second game he has missed this season to rest. The Cavs have lost both and dropped to 2-13 in games James has missed since last season.
James played the entire second half of Friday’s loss at the Toronto Rators and the Cavs play again Monday when they host the Indiana Pacers, so Lue wanted to get James a break. He didn’t enter Friday with the intention of playing James the entire second half, but he said James didn’t want to come out.
“I should’ve got him out, but he didn’t want to come out,” Lue said. “As the game started down the stretch to get close, I said, ‘I’m going to get you out for a couple minutes.’ He said, ‘No!’ He went crazy. That kind of has something to do with sitting him [Sunday].”
Lue wanted to rest James last Monday on the second night of a back-to-back. Instead, he ignored his gut and played him anyway. James responded with his worst game of the season.
Instead, he rested him Sunday and the Cavs collectively spit out another clunker. The Wizards scored 35 points in the first quarter, the most points the Cavs have allowed in an opening quarter this season. Then they added another 33 in the third when Otto Porter made three 3-pointers within the first two minutes to double the Wizards’ lead to 18.
“I felt we were pretty focused going in,” Kevin Love said. “But we stepped on the floor and they just played better than us.”
McRae arrives
Jordan McRae was signed to a 10-day contract Sunday. He was expected to primarily serve as a practice body, but wound up playing seven minutes in the blowout.
McRae got the Cavs’ attention last month when he scored a Development League record 61 points against their D-League team, the Canton Charge. Lue mentioned that game to McRae when he saw him over All-Star weekend in Toronto. Two weeks later, he’s part of the team. McRae also spent three weeks with the Phoenix Suns this season and quickly noticed the difference between one of the league’s worst teams and a contender.
“Everything about this is different just as far as how many fans are outside the bus, how many more security guards they have over anybody else,” he said. “So you just really notice the small things.”
McRae is a 6-foot-6 combo guard with a 7-2 wing span, although he’s unlikely to see much playing time during his stay in Cleveland.
“He’s aggressive, can run pick-and-rolls, athletic, has length,” Lue said. “Just getting a guy in there, a body for practices.”
Dribbles
Porter matched a career-high with four 3-pointers. His 21 points was his seventh game this season scoring 20 or more. … Love remains three 3-pointers shy of 700 for his career. … J.R. Smith did not attempt a 3-pointer for the second full game this season. The other was the blowout home loss to the Golden State Warriors.
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.