Tyronn Lue’s return to the sidelines was nearly overshadowed by a potential crushing loss to the Washington Wizards. Luckily for him, his team rallied from a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter to win its fifth game in a row and 10th of their last 11.
“I told the guys after the game, good job of bailing me out,” Lue said, jokingly, according to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. “It was tough, first game back, not having a point guard and not knowing what sets to call because you haven’t worked on it. … Those guys did a great job of scoring 119 points with no point guard and just sticking with it.”
“Our rotations were a little off tonight. I was rusty, but they bailed me out.”
Lue benefitted by yet another brilliant fourth-quarter performance by LeBron James, who had his fingerprints all over this clutch win — scoring or assisting in nearly every play and relentlessly bullying his way to the bucket against a hapless Wizards defense.
Despite the constant adjustments (whether it’s on the court or on the sidelines), the Cavs haven’t only treaded water in this last stretch of the season, but played perhaps the most convincing basketball, now slated for another crucial matchup against a Joel Embiid-less Philadelphia 76ers team — currently the only team with a better win streak than theirs.
The Cavs aren’t letting go of the rope, and neither are the Sixers, who have won 12 straight games coming into tonight’s game, which is bound to have playoff-like fireworks, as both teams vie for sole control of the third seed.