Cavs falls to the Wizards, 127-115

Cleveland never really recovered from a dreadful effort in the first quarter and lost to Washington, 127-115 Saturday night.

The Wizards' guards John Wall and Bradley Beal combined for more points (27) than the Cavaliers scored in the first quarter (26) as the Wizards took a 40-26 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back.

The Cavaliers' defense continues to be worrisome. The Wizards shot 18-for-22 in the first quarter, 69.8 percent in the first half and 59.8 percent for the game.

Since the All-Star break, only the lowly Los Angeles Lakes have a worse defensive rating than the Cavaliers.

Coach Lue says not showing everything defensively. "We've got to hold back. We can't show our hand early. It seemed like they were so much faster than us. Our guys got tired. We just didn't have it tonight."

Lebron James briefly wore goggles to protect a scratched cornea sustained Friday night at Charlotte, and scored 24 points with 11 rebounds and eight assists. James moved past Maurice Cheeks (7,392) into 12th place on the career assists list.

Kyrie Irving scored 23 points and has now scored 20 or more points in 21 straight games, which is the longest active streak in the NBA. Kevin Love scored 17 with seven rebounds. Kyle Korver and Richard Jefferson each contributed 10 points off the bench.

John Wall finished with 37 points and Bradley Beal added 27 for the Wizards, who are 29-10 since January 6.

The Cavs' lead over Boston for first place in the East is down to .5 games, and they're 2.5 games ahead of the Wizards with 10 to play.

COMING UP FOR THE CAVS: The Cleveland Cavaliers (47-25) return to the road on Monday night at San Antonio.