Like a broken record: Cavaliers' 11th loss in a row sets team marks in futility

LOS ANGELES — For Antawn Jamison, this was rock bottom.

"It can't get any worse than this," he said after the Cavaliers suffered the worst loss in team history, 112-57, to the Lakers on Tuesday night in Staples Center. "If it is, y'all going to have to help me. I don't know how much of this I can take. This, by far, is the bottom.

"Fifty-five points? That's, like, impossible," Jamison said. "We're professional athletes. How do you lose by 55 points? I don't care who you're playing against. I mean, if this doesn't hurt . . . I don't understand how we're able to have conversations in the locker room. There's nothing to talk about.

"We have to do some soul searching quick because no matter who we play, right now they feel like they can beat us. If we don't have a sense of pride and just play for yourself or something . . . this might be one of the worst teams to go through a season. The frustrating part about it is I know we're better than this. I don't know. Something has to change."

But nothing changes for these Cavaliers. Another game, another loss, another injury.

In setting club records for margin of defeat and fewest points in a game, they lost their 11th straight, their 21st in 22 overall, and their 17th straight on the road to fall to 8-30. The previous record loss came in the Cavs' first season when they lost, 141-87, on Nov. 2, 1970. The previous record for fewest points in a game was 59 at San Antonio on March 25, 1997. The 57 points also was a Lakers' record low for an opponent, and this was the third-largest margin of victory in Lakers history.

Meanwhile, Christian Eyenga, who wasn't even supposed to play because of a sprained right ankle, played six minutes before tweaking it in the third quarter. About the same time, Cavs guard Daniel Gibson arrived behind the bench after rehabbing his sprained left ankle in Cleveland for a week. He hopes to be able to take part in practice on Thursday.

But the Cavs sure could have used him on Tuesday -- along with the Marines.

"I thought that was embarrassing," said Cavs coach Byron Scott, who won three championships as a player with the Lakers. "We knew it wasn't going to be easy, but to come out and not compete? There's no excuse for that. I'm embarrassed because of the way we performed. I'm a Cleveland Cavalier right now and the way we performed last night, that's embarrassing to me.

"I had one other team [New Jersey] come in and I thought we looked a little nervous. But that was the NBA Finals. I haven't had another team come in and look that scared."

Cavs players seemed as embarrassed as their coach.

An hour after the game, guard Mo Williams tweeted: "This [expletive] is embarrassing. I feel like I can't even show my face in Cleve."

The loquacious Jamison was running out of words to express himself.

"In 13 years, I can honestly say I never felt that embarrassed to be on a basketball court," he said. "We knew what we were up against -- the defending champions, playing at home. I don't know. I guess as soon as we saw the 'Lakers' on their jerseys we just . . . I don't know. But it was definitely, by far, one of the most embarrassing moments that I've been a part of affiliated with the game of basketball. There's nothing else you can really say."

This article, written by Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer, can be found at Cleveland.com