CLEVELAND: LeBron James put the franchise and everyone in it on notice Monday night. This wasn’t the response anyone expected.
Arron Afflalo’s 3-pointer from the wing gave the Sacramento Kings a 116-112 overtime victory over the Cavaliers on Wednesday after James missed a deep 3-pointer with 10 seconds left that would’ve tied the game.
James finished with his second triple-double in as many games with 24 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists, but the defending champs lost for the sixth time in their past eight games.
Kyle Korver’s 3-pointer with 7:43 to play in regulation put the Cavs ahead 97-87, but the Kings scored the game’s next 11 points to take the lead in what has been a recurring problem for the Cavs this season.
James called out the organization and his teammates following Monday’s loss to the Pelicans in New Orleans, questioning whether the organization was satisfied with just one championship and calling the roster “top heavy.”
Kevin Love scored 21 points and grabbed 16 rebounds Wednesday and Kyrie Irving scored 20 points, but the Cavs shot just 17-of-34 from the free-throw line. Foul shooting was also their problem in Saturday’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs when they made just 12-of-22.
DeMarcus Cousins scored 28 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and passed for nine assists for the Kings, who won for the second time in as many games after losing five in a row. Afflalo scored 14 and Darren Collison scored 23 points.
Collison’s layup with 35 seconds left in overtime gave the Kings a 112-111 lead before Love split two free throws with 30.8 seconds left to tie the game at 112.
Afflalo countered with what turned out to be the game-winning 3-pointer when James launched a questionable 3-pointer off an inbounds pass from 34 feet.
The Cavs had a chance to win it at the end of regulation when James tried inbounding to Love at half court coming out of a timeout, but Cousins was grabbing Love by the jersey and never let him get the ball. The officials did not call a foul as Cousins grabbed the steal and heaved a 38-footer that missed, sending the game to overtime.
Coach Tyronn Lue and General Manager David Griffin addressed James’ comments with him, then Lue addressed the team prior to Wednesday’s game.
“We’re not going to put out everything that was said, but we addressed LeBron,” Lue said. “We talked to him and he understands. We’re going to move on.”
Griffin said everyone in the organization was frustrated — and that was before the loss to the Kings, who entered 10 games under .500.
“Everyone is frustrated and I can appreciate the fact that he feels that way,” Griffin said of James. “The thing you have to love about him and everybody on this team is they’re really passionate about what they do and everyone is frustrated. So I get the sentiment.”
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.