Undermanned Cavaliers get overwhelmed yet again as Golden State cruises

"The thing about this right now, when we turn this all around, it's going to be so much more gratifying. That's how I look at it." - Byron Scott

OAKLAND, Calif. — What was left of the Cavaliers was simply not enough to stop Golden State on Friday night as the Warriors ran off with a testy 116-98 victory in Oracle Arena.

Cleveland's Mo Williams and Golden State's David Lee were called for flagrant fouls in the second half, and Williams got a technical as the Cavs suffered their ninth straight loss, their 19th in 20 games, and dropped to 8-29 despite 21 points from former Warrior Antawn Jamison.

Monte Ellis had 32 points, and Lee had 22 points and 14 rebounds for the Warriors, who improved to 15-21.

The game capped a long, frustrating day for the Cavs and coach Byron Scott. Reporters approached Scott cautiously before the team's pregame shootaround.

"Is it still appropriate to say good morning?" one of them asked.

Across the floor, Anderson Varejao had taken the walking boot off his sprained right ankle and was getting treatment next to Joey Graham, who remains out with a strained right quad.

Behind Scott, Anthony Parker was telling the media how his back had tightened up in the second half of the Dallas game and still wasn't loose enough for him to play.

Back in Cleveland, Leon Powe was having surgery on a torn meniscus in his right knee, while Daniel Gibson was rehabbing his sprained left ankle.

But Scott remained almost defiantly optimistic.

"It's still appropriate to say good morning," he said.

With losses mounting along with the injuries, he dismissed any talk of a Cleveland curse.

Scott also dismissed the notion his former employer, the New Jersey Nets, was cursed for selling Julius Erving to the Sixers in 1976.

And yet, he admitted this season was close to getting beyond what he had envisioned as the worst-case scenario.

"I didn't envision these types of injuries," he said, calling the loss of Varejao and Gibson "devastating."

"But you know what? I'm equipped for this. I understand this.

"I'm able to deal with it."

"Every morning I wake up with a smile knowing I'm going to work to get better as a coach and get these guys better as players. That's how I approach it. In the long run, it's going to be something that's going to really benefit not only the players but the whole organization."

"The biggest thing I think that's in me is that I always look at the glass as being half full. I have a positive spin on everything. The thing about this right now, when we turn this all around, it's going to be so much more gratifying. That's how I look at it."

And when will that be?

"Sooner rather than later," he said. "Nobody knows what's happening next year with this [possible] lockout and all that going on.

"But I truly believe next year we'll be a much better basketball team . . . if there is a year."

He was asked if it's too late to save this year.

"I don't think it's too late but, obviously, time is running out," he said, "and when you have the guys injured that we have injured, it really makes it doubly hard.

"I never give up on the season. That's just not in me. I'm going to fight until it's game 82. I want these guys to be the same way. That's just my makeup. I don't care. So I would say right now, no it's not too late. And I'll say that until game 81 or 82 of the season."

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