• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Crawford, Wizards top Cavs to end skid

Mar 4, 2012 - 4:50 AM Washington, DC (Sports Network) - Jordan Crawford scored a game-high 31 points to help the Wizards snap a six-game losing streak as Washington topped the Cavaliers 101-98 at Verizon Center on Saturday.

"It was big. A six-game losing streak, we needed to end it," said Crawford after the game. "I just wanted to go out and be aggressive. We did the things we needed to do, got stops, got rebounds. It was good for us."

John Wall filled the stat sheet with 24 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Roger Mason Jr. added 11 points off the bench for the Wizards, who had lost four straight at home entering the contest.

Antawn Jamison paced the Cavalier attack with 29 points to go with nine rebounds. Kyrie Irving, who missed Friday's loss to Chicago with the flu, tallied 20 points and handed out six assists in his return.

"It's frustrating," said Irving. "We definitely need to get back on the right track. This is not the way we wanted to start out the second half of the season after the All-Star break."

Cleveland has now dropped five straight overall and four straight on the road.

Washington scored the first four points of the fourth to take an 82-78 lead, its first since the 4:50 mark of the second quarter.

The Cavs battled back, as Anthony Parker and Irving connected on back-to-back three-pointers to cut the lead to 96-92 with 2:26 remaining.

Trailing by three, Jamison missed a triple that would have tied the game with 35.9 seconds remaining.

Wall then missed on two opportunities to ice the game. First his elbow jumper was off the mark, then, after Irving went 1-of-2 from the line, Wall had his second chance from the charity stripe.

He missed the first free throw, but buried the second to give the Cavaliers life, trailing 101-98 with 5.8 ticks on the clock.

Parker caught the inbounds pass at the top of the key, dribbled twice, and let fly with the potential game-tying shot. However, his jumper was off the mark, allowing the Wizards to escape with the victory.

Jamison, who played six seasons with Washington from 2004-10, netted 15 points in the first quarter to give the visitors a 33-24 lead after one.

After a 10-2 Cavs spurt in the second made it a 52-45 margin, Jan Vesely added a dunk just before the halftime buzzer to make it 55-50 at the break.

Wall brought the Wizards even at 78 as he scored his team's final seven points of the third, capped by a layup with less than a second left to send the game into the fourth at a stalemate.

Game Notes

Washington will host Golden State on Monday, while Cleveland will welcome the Jazz...Washington's Andray Blatche returned after a 15-game absence due to a strained left calf. He finished with nine rebounds and five assists, but only one points.