Cavs falter down stretch

Though it is what everyone always remembers, most of the time games that came down to the final shot don't really come down to the final shot.
Wednesday's Game 5 between the Cavs and Wizards was such a classic case. The Cavs lost and Wizards won, 88-87, not just because Caron Butler made his driving layup and LeBron James missed his, but because of the way both teams approached the game's final two minutes.
The Cavs have been quite successful over the years in giving the ball to James and, as Delonte West said when describing the set up of his game-winning jumper in Game 4, "get the hell out of the way." But that isn't always the prudent way to play, especially when it isn't yet time for the last shot, a flaw the Cavs have shown often in the past.
Ahead by five points with the ball with less than two minutes on the clock in their home arena in a close out game with one of the best finishers in the NBA, everything looked very positive for the Cavs. That's when the flaw was exposed, as the Cavs went through three questionable possessions that put wind back into the Wizards.
James spent each possession dribbling at the top of the key while his four teammates stood and watched. He let the shot clock go all the way down before doing anything and then he didn't do much. He took a poor contested 3-pointer that didn't even hit the rim. He dished out to Daniel Gibson for an open 3-pointer but a low-percentage shot especially with the officials calling fouls (James took 18 free throws) and an undersized Darius Songalia covering Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who had 19 points and helped foul Brendan Haywood out earlier in the quarter. Then he gave up the ball late in the clock that resulted in Joe Smith taking a much close shot, from about five feet, but doing it in less than two seconds because a 24-second violation was imminent.
Meanwhile, the Wizards got three scores and went from down five to up one valuable point.
"We didn't execute, being up five, and I had the ball in my hands for the most part," James said. "I'm supposed to put us in the position to do the right thing and I didn't do that."
Cavs coach Mike Brown defended the decision, saying that giving the ball to James and letting him make a play is always the team's strategy late. But both he and James admitted regret that things didn't go more smoothly and James seemed prepared for another chance later in the series.
"It's not like it is over, we're up 3-2," James said. "As long as I am on the court, we have a great chance to win."