Asked if mental fatigue played a part in the defeat, Cavaliers coach Byron Scott was having none of it.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Prior to most post-game media sessions, Byron Scott sheds his suit and tie and goes Bill Belichick casual. He greets the press in his Cavaliers-issued gray sweat pants and hooded sweat shirt.
Not Tuesday at The Q. Not after his club committed a season-high 25 turnovers in a 105-95 loss to the Golden State Warriors. The coach looked just as sharp as he did before tipoff. The only thing he dressed down was his players.
Asked if mental fatigue factored into the defeat -- his club had played Monday and had been on the road for the previous seven games -- Scott would have none of it.
"I don't buy that," he said. "That was Golden State's [third] game in five nights. That's a bunch of bull, that's an excuse, that's something we are not going to tolerate. We just lost a game because we were terrible on the offensive end, turning the ball over, period."
It's hardly an isolated case, either. The Cavaliers have 20 or more giveaways in five of their 13 games this season. They entered play averaging 16 per game, the NBA's fifth-highest total.
It's often said good teams value each possession. The Cavs (6-7) are a rebuilding team, a more exciting team than a season ago. But until they eliminate the carelessness from their game, "good" remains as out of reach like so many of their passes Tuesday night.
"That is the growing pains," guard Daniel Gibson said. "That's what happens to young teams. The good teams are low in turnovers and they make every shot, every possession count. That's the next step for us."
For all the mistakes, the Cavaliers led, 87-85, with 9:11 remaining. But the Warriors (5-8) ended on a 20-8 run thanks to 13 points from David Lee. The Golden State forward finished with a season-high 29 points. The Cavs, meanwhile, had five turnovers during that stretch. In the third quarter, they turned it over on four consecutive possessions. In the fourth quarter, they had a spell of three straight giveaways.
The crowd of 13,056 fans was not amused.
Point guard Kyrie Irving contributed six giveaways on a night he added 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
"It starts with me," Irving said. "I had six out there. You have to limit those going forward if you want to win games."
Here's all you need to know: The Cavaliers' highlight was the play of backup center Semih Erden, who tied his career high with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting. The 7-foot Turk had a total of 11 points in his first five games.
Power forward Antawn Jamison led the Cavs with 19 points on a night they shot 42 percent from the floor and had just 16 assists. The statistics were fairly even between the teams except in the turnover column, where the Warriors transformed 25 Cavs' miscues into 23points.
"I'm trying to figure out why we are turning it over at this high rate," Scott said. "Is it because we are not a good passing team or is it because we are not a good decision-making team?"
The Cavaliers, meanwhile, fell to 0-3 in the second half of back-to-back situations. How can the club remedy this problem?
"Call [NBA Commissioner] David Stern and see if we can have no more back-to-back games," Scott said.
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2012/01/cleveland_cavaliers_fall_to_go.html
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