4:39PM Tuesday
March 19, 2013

CLEVELAND -- In the eyes of C.J. Miles, the Cavaliers have plenty for which to play.

It goes back to the entire reason you play basketball, Miles said. You want to compete.

Miles is a Cavs reserve swingman, one of the teams true veterans and a fireball of positive energy and enthusiasm. He was speaking after the Cavs 95-90 home win over Washington on Tuesday.

It was also the first game after the Cavs learned Kyrie Irving is expected to miss 3-4 weeks (or basically, the rest of the season) with a sprained shoulder.

They have 18 games left. They arent going to the playoffs. Theyre mostly young, fairly inconsistent from quarter to quarter, and are now without not just Anderson Varejao, but their All-Star point guard.

Theyre clearly improving, and thats really been the mission all year.

But the dog days of the season are here, and when the Wizards jumped to an 11-0 lead, it looked as if the Cavs might just mail it in the rest of the way. Its what a lot of amateurs might do.

But these guys are professionals