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The Cavaliers’ struggles in the second half eventually led to their demise Friday night, losing 102-94 to the Washington Wizards at the Q. The Cavs exhibited some poor free throw shooting and made some key turnovers in the final quarter. LeBron James finished with 25 points but was blanketed in the second half, scoring only 4 points on 4 of 12 from the free throw line. The Cavs’ defensive problems continued. Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison, and Caron Butler scored 26, 25, and 24 points, respectively. Some poor perimeter defense allowed the Wizards to knock down 10 three-pointers in the ballgame.

As good as LeBron is, it’s frustrating that he has such problems at the free throw line. It’s been an Achilles heel for him all season long, especially toward the end of games. However, the loss should not be placed squarely on his shoulders. Mike Brown needs to get this squad together and start emphasizing the fundamentals. The Cavaliers continue to lose games because of their lack of focus. They need to get off to better starts at the beginning of games and have to stop being careless with the basketball. The Cavs are one of the most dangerous teams in the league when they put together a solid 48 minutes, but they can never seem to do it on a consistent basis.

This is exactly the kind of move the Cavaliers needed to make. Flip Murray certainly isn’t a superstar, but the 6-4 guard, acquired from the Sonics Thursday, can shoot and penetrate and should be a nice offensive replacement for the injured Larry Hughes. Best of all, the Cavs only gave up Mike Wilks and cash to get Murray.

“Flip will give us speed, size, athleticism, toughness and the ability to create on the offensive end,” said Cavs General Manager Danny Ferry. “With Larry not being available, this trade gave us an opportunity to bring in some of those qualities for our team.”

The Cavs are in dire need of those qualities. Sasha Pavlovic is currently in the starting shooting guard slot, and Damon Jones comes off the bench as the backup point and shooting guard. Jones and Pavlovic have similar games. Both players are shooters. Murray, however, can break down a defender off the dribble, and he has the ability to draw in defenders to take some pressure off LeBron James.

Murray should give the Cavaliers a nice offensive boost as they eye a trip to the postseason. Danny Ferry’s first Deadline Day was a good one, in part because of the Murray acquisition but also because he didn’t make a major deal that would’ve shaken up the roster and jeopardized team chemistry.

In a separate deal, Ferry also moved up a couple slots in the upcoming draft:

In another deal, the Cavs sent their second-round draft pick in this year’s draft to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for the 76ers second-round draft pick this season. The Cavs’ second-round pick that was sent to the 76ers is protected through the 55th pick of the 2006 NBA Draft. Forward Lee Nailon also was included in the deal. However, Nailon is not expected to suit up for games or even attend games. Nailon hasn’t seen action since the end of last month when he was arrested for a domestic dispute.

Pure dump by the Sixers. I’m not really sure why the Cavs made the move, but apparently Ferry really wanted to move up in the second round.

The Cavaliers’ three game winning streak was snapped with their 116-107 road loss to the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday night. LeBron James led the Cavs with 33 points and Ilgauskas had another solid night with 27 but the A.I duo of Iverson and Iguodala, along with Chris Webber, was too much for the Cavaliers down the stretch. The trio accounted for 78 of Philadelphia’s 116 points. The 76ers continue to give the Wine and Gold fits, now having won 22 of their last 26 meetings.

“They’ve given us trouble, no doubt about it,” James said. “This is the team that’s given us the most trouble thus far.”

Andre Iguodala is turning himself into quite the basketball player. First the slam dunk contest (which he should have won) and now tonight’s performance. A.I squared could develop into a pretty lethal combo. With it being the tail end of a back to back, the Cavs just didn’t have enough firepower to stay with the Sixers. They need to find a way to get back on track Friday because Sunday’s matinee in Motown could be a rude awakening.