Tempers grew short and talk was tense after the Cavaliers quit in a 124-80 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Sunday afternoon in Sleep Train Arena.
Facing former assistant coach Mike Malone for the first time, coach Mike Brown’s team didn’t show up and suffered its biggest loss of the season and their worst since a franchise-record 55 point loss at the Lakers, Jan. 11, 2011. It’s the sixth worst loss in team history.
The Cavs trailed by 46 points in the fourth quarter, 116-70, their biggest deficit of the season. Their previous biggest deficit this season was 43 at San Antonio. The Spurs played in the NBA Finals last season. The Kings hadn’t won three games in a row in more than a year.
Dion Waiters threw up his hands when Brown took him out after a turnover, then had to be coaxed into the next huddle by assistant coach Jim Boylan. After another timeout, Irving seemed upset when he dropped into the last seat on the bench and Anderson Varejao came over and spoke to him, patting him on the head.
“It might have been those two, it might have been the whole team,” Brown said as the Cavs fell to 13-24, 3-16 on the road. “We’re down, instead of dropping your shoulders and dropping your head, which I felt our group did, fight. Pick up full-court, put some pressure on them defensively. That’s the competitive spirit I’m talking about. It was nonexistent tonight. For me that’s the most disappointing thing. When the times got tough out there, we didn’t react the right way and that’s disappointing on the road.”
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