Cleveland 97, Washington 94: Welcome Back, Inconsistency!

The calendar may have turned, but there was a distinct flavor of 2005/06 season and the 2006 playoffs in the game tonight. At times, the Wizards showed us why they're one of the up and coming teams in the league, but they also had a lot of bad moments.

As a whole, though, I wasn't too upset. Gilbert Arenas isn't going to shoot 2 for 14 very much this season, and the rest of the team played pretty well as a whole. Here's what else I took away from this game.

• The Wizards need to get to the rim more in road games. Last year, the Wizards resorted too often to shooting jumpers on the road and seem allergic to the rim. Tonight was no exception, as they didn't consistently get to the line until the fourth quarter. Arenas in particular was the biggest culprit, shooting only two free throws in the game. Getting to the line will be the difference between winning the close road games and losing them.

• As long as they stay healthy, Etan Thomas and Brendan Haywood will be a competent duo in the middle. Both played well in stretches during the game.

• Jarvis Hayes had a good game, but why is he the one shooting the biggest shot of the game? Why not Arenas or Butler?

• Cleveland is going to be really good. Larry Hughes had a big game and Drew Gooden was awesome on the boards tonight. They played a really strong game tonight, with the exception of their sloppy stage in the second quarter. The fourth quarter was more of the Wizards finally getting it offensively, and Hughes and James were out at points during the Wizards' run.
  

• As important as the Big 3 are, the Wizards cannot afford an injury to Antonio Daniels. His driving to the rim and solid ball-handling is invaluable and it was the reason the Wizards started their comeback.

• I can't believe Jamison missed that shot.
  

Next up is Boston on Saturday in the home opener. Let's see if they can fix the problems of this game.

Postgame thoughts? What did you think of the loss?