The "embarrassing" loss to the Heat still stings the Cavaliers. But the bigger issue is that the team isn't playing fundamentally sound basketball, players admit.
View full sizeThe fans managed to show up on Thursday night and display some passion. Unfortunately for them, their team did not in an embarrassing blowout to LeBron James and the Miami Heat.STRONGSVILLE, Ohio — No one slept. Not much, at least.
Daniel Gibson tossed and turned, replaying everything that went so wrong so quickly. Mo Williams sent out a Tweet at 5:30 a.m. saying, "I still ain't closed my eyes." And Antawn Jamison, a 13-year NBA veteran, called it a good ol'-fashioned "whupping" of the magnitude he hasn't seen often.
"I don't think anyone slept in the state of Ohio last night," Jamison said Friday. "This is by far one of the toughest losses in my career."
It was the Cavaliers' biggest loss of the season, a 28-point drubbing by Miami in LeBron James' homecoming appearance. This was the game all of Cleveland had circled on the schedule for months.
Now, it might be the highlighted game on which this Cavaliers season hinges. The team fell to 7-11 with the 118-90 loss, but of greater concern was the effort displayed on both ends of the court, and what appeared to be too warm of a reception for James by his former teammates.
Players contend that what appeared to be laughter and smiles with James was actually unfriendly conversation -- so unfriendly that Gibson's once-strong friendship with James might now be frayed. But the disarray and confusion on the court was undeniable in allowing the Heat to sink 57 percent of their field goals while the Princeton motion offense was stagnant far too often.
View full sizeCavs guard Daniel Gibson (1) says there was "nothing friendly" about his conversations with LeBron James on Thursday."Defensively, we're not in tune; offensively, I don't know what we're doing," Jamison said. "When you play that type of basketball, you get embarrassed."
It was embarrassing in such a way that owner Dan Gilbert Tweeted in the early hours of Friday morning, "Words don't express my feelings so I won't even try. Know this: There's nothing [you] are feeling that I'm not." Gilbert met with General Manager Chris Grant after Thursday's loss, but it was the standard meeting that the two generally have after each game.
Still, the way the loss occurred stuck with the Cavaliers on Friday. They replayed how they sank just 36 percent of their field goals, how Jamison watched teammates hold onto the ball too long as he shook his head in frustration on the court.
"It's not even really dealing with the system," Jamison said. "It's Basketball 101. . . . Offensively, it's not even the concept, it's not even what we're doing with the new scheme. We're just not playing fundamentally sound basketball. We're not spreading the court, we're not looking for the open guy. We're kind of being selfish a little bit, and that's not our identity at all."
The Cavaliers want fans to know that they don't want to be labeled with the identity of being too friendly with ex-players like James, either. Center Anderson Varejao exchanged hugs with James pregame, James jawed with the entire Cavaliers bench each time he sank baskets in the third quarter, and Gibson was seen laughing and smiling during conversations with his former mentor.
However, things were not as they appeared, Gibson said.
"To say we were fraternizing and being friendly . . . no one knows what was said, and the things that were said probably couldn't be repeated right now," Gibson said. "There was nothing friendly about the conversations we had last night."
Asked point-blank if he still considered James a friend, Gibson merely smiled. That came moments after Gibson explained that he often smiles when he's angry.
Cavaliers coach Byron Scott contends one loss won't make or break this season, and that's part of the reason he didn't judge his team more harshly after the lackluster loss.
"I think the guys are beating themselves up enough," Scott said. "I don't think I need to jump on the wagon and beat them up any more. I think they also need to know that I'm behind them 110 percent."
Still, the Cavaliers learned some things about themselves in the loss to the Heat. They know their vulnerabilities, and they know how much it hurts to lose so soundly.
"This should make us angry to the point that we learn from it," Jamison said. "We've been embarrassed and we should never want to have this feeling ever again."
Gibson vs. House: Both Gibson and Heat guard Eddie House earned technical fouls in the fourth quarter of Thursday's loss. Neither player would relay what was said, but it was apparently enough that House wanted to talk to Gibson about it after the game.
As media waited in the hallway outside the visitors' locker room, House sat nearby, and had to be talked out of heading to the Cavaliers' locker room by both security and teammates. After several minutes of anxious coaxing, House retreated to the Miami locker room.
"He said some things I didn't like, and that was it," Gibson said of the on-court incident. "We had our words and that was the end of it. . . . If he wanted to do something [after the game], it would have happened. We all know Eddie House from the playoffs."
Police blotter: According to Cavs spokesman Tad Carper, security at The Q reported one arrest and four ejections during Thursday's Miami Heat game. They also estimated a few dozen T-shirts and about a dozen signs were taken from fans because security considered them inappropriate.
According to the Cleveland Police, there were three arrests outside The Q and one other person was issued a minor misdemeanor citation.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: jvalade@plaind.com, 216-999-4654