Wall, Wizards Choke Away 17-Point Fourth-Quarter Lead To Cleveland

The Washington Wizards had a 104-87 fourth-quarter lead against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night but wound up choking it away down the stretch. Washington’s John Wall failed to capitalize on several possessions in the final minute en route to a 119-115 win for Cleveland.

When Wizards guard Tomas Satoransky drained a three-ball with eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Cleveland Cavaliers called a timeout and everyone who looked on thought the game was over. Personally, the Satoransky three forced me to flip over to the Clippers/Jazz game and at that point, I generally felt happy for the Wiz — they deserved the W.

From that point on, however, the game flipped. The 17-point lead they held disappeared in the final seven minutes and their star, John Wall, muffed three consecutive possessions in the final 32 seconds. As for Cleveland, they roared back by spreading the ball around to whoever was open. Kyle Korver, Jeff Green, Rodney Hood, and of course, LeBron James combined for every point from the 7:23-mark until they finally took the lead on a free-throw from Green with 23 seconds remaining.

If you’re a fan of the Wizards, you’ve gotta be looking at John Wall with a WTF face. The dude is supposed to be a superstar; he can’t let his team piss away one of their biggest wins of the year, and he certainly can’t choke on three straight possessions with the game on the line.

First, he missed a 23-foot bomb while holding a one-point lead. Then, after Cleveland finally went up on the Green free-throw, he front-rimmed a wide-open 12-footer and was visibly upset at either himself or a perceived foul (there wasn’t one). Finally, down 117-115 with under 10 seconds, an out-of-control Wall got caught in the air and had his bail-out pass intercepted by Cleveland. It was as textbook a choke as you’ll ever see.

For the Cavs, this was yet another block to build off of. They need their supporting cast to be strong come playoff time and this comeback proved that they may have what it takes.

As for the Wizards, they’ve gone 2-7 over their last nine games and will take a three-game losing streak into Atlanta on Friday night. While that’s all bad, the team does have a playoff spot clinched — they’ll be either the sixth, seventh, or eighth seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.