Cavaliers A Mystery No More
The Cleveland Cavaliers are no big mystery anymore. Surround Shawn Kemp with three defenders and watch his teammates miss shots.
Throw in an emotional hangover from a loss to Seattle and you have a frustrated All-Star, a testy coach and a two-game losing streak - including a 102-93 loss to the Toronto Raptors, the NBA’s second-worst team.
“I don’t know what we had,” said Cavs coach Mike Fratello, asked if Thursday night’s 25-point loss to Kemp’s former team caused Cleveland to come out flat against Toronto. “It was not even close to exhibiting the effort and intensity that we needed.”
Kemp had six points through three quarters and finished with 16 on 5-for-16 shooting. He appeared tired and frustrated, not attempting a shot from the field until the closing minutes of the second quarter.
So the Raptors, riddled with injuries to key players Walt Williams, Carlos Rogers and Popeye Jones, dominated Cleveland. The Cavs trailed 73-57 after three quarters, evoking boos from the crowd of 17,864.
After two resounding losses, Fratello must be wondering what kind of team he has - or if the rest of the league has finally figured it out. The Cavs had a 10-game winning streak early in the season, but are 6-6 since then.
“It’s disappointing to realize where we were early in the season and where we are now,” Kemp said.
Surrounded by double- and triple-teams the past two games, Kemp is 7-for-27 from the field. Sending the ball inside to Kemp and having him pass out of the pressure isn’t working, because his teammates aren’t making shots.
“That’s my responsibility,” said Kemp. “I’m going to have to shoot the ball with two people on me.”
Ostertag, Russell in doghouse
Despite a 22-11 record while playing nearly two months without John Stockton, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan has been disappointed with the play of center Greg Ostertag, 24, and forward Bryon Russell, 27, who have since lost their starting jobs, by default, to Antoine Carr, 36, and Adam Keefe, 27.
“Obviously, Ostertag and Russell have struggled a great deal,” Sloan said. “We need young, energetic people to keep us going, because we do have quite a few older guys. And I can’t play (older players) 40 minutes a night.
“A lot of young players think the game becomes easy after you have success. Until you realize the only way you’re going to have success in this league is to work hard every day, and not have it be just a sometimes thing, you’re going to struggle.”
On the courts
David Wesley scored 23 points, and Anthony Mason had seven of his 22 in the fourth quarter Sunday night as the visiting Charlotte Hornets beat the Los Angeles Lakers 98-93.
At Washington, Christian Laettner scored 23 points as the Atlanta Hawks edged the Washington Wizards 107-102 in overtime.