WASHINGTON -- One day after their general manager was unexpectedly fired and playing without their second leading scorer, the Cleveland Cavaliers managed to snap their six-game losing streak. Luol Deng was out with flu-like symptoms, and Kyrie Irving, who missed shootaround because he was ill, fought through his sneezing spells to help lead the Cavaliers to a 115-113 win over the Washington Wizards on Friday. Irving had 23 points and tied a career high with 12 assists and made all 13 of his free throws. Dion Waiters scored 24 points and C.J. Miles had 18 for Cleveland. "Im all right. Its the best that Im going to get right now," Irving said. The second-year guard admitted that the firing of Chris Grant, who drafted him, was troubling. "Thats the sad part, the bad part about our business. Things are going to change whether you like it or not and you still have to go out there and perform as a professional. It was probably on our minds but we cant use it as an excuse," Irving said. Cleveland took a 67-63 lead at halftime when Irving hit four free throws just before the intermission and never relinquished it. The Cavaliers took a 101-87 lead three minutes into the fourth quarter, but the Wizards, who were led by John Walls 32 points and 10 assists, couldnt make up the difference. Martell Webster hit two late 3-pointers to cut the lead to 115-113 with 2.9 seconds left. Clevelands Jarrett Jack missed two free throws with 2.2 seconds remaining. A scramble resulted with Washington getting possession with 0.2 seconds left, but couldnt get off a final shot. The near comeback didnt impress Wizards coach Randy Wittman. "We wait until the last four minutes to fly around and decide to play defence. Last four minutes of the game. Everybody will say, you gave a great effort coming down the stretch. No we didnt. For 44 minutes we didnt give an effort," Wittman said. His team didnt heed his warnings. "We told them what that organization is going through right now. Some tough times with the firing of their GM. Theyre going to be desperate. It always happens no matter who it is that gets fired," Wittman said. Washington fell to 24-25. Its the 12th time theyre one game under .500 this season. The Wizards were one game over .500 after Mondays win against Portland for the first time since Oct. 31, 2009, but they lost in double overtime to San Antonio on Wednesday. "Were not a very good team. Good teams dont do that over and over and over and over again. We can get all caught up in .500, and I told you guys what that meant. Nothing. And think youve arrived. Good teams do not lose basketball games like this nine, ten, 11 times halfway through a season," Wittman said. Marcin Gortat had 19 and Webster 18 for Washington. "We have a lot of fans coming in, paying to watch good basketball at a high level. They expect us to win games like that -- and were losing," Gortat said. Waiters scored just four of his 24 points in the fourth quarter when he was just 2 for 7 from the field. "The energy was different, these guys knew what was at stake after going through a situation where we went through. We faced adversity and it wasnt the first time for us but at the end of the day we came out here we played hard, played for one another and we got a big win," Waiters said. Grant came under fire after he chose Anthony Bennett with the first overall pick last June. Bennett has struggled in his first months with Cleveland, though coach Mike Brown, a longtime friend of Grants, defended Bennett before Fridays game, saying hes shown great improvement recently. Bennett had eight points. NOTES: Clevelands Alonzo Gee had a season-high 11 points. . Wall addressed the fans before the game, thanking them for their support in All-Star Game voting. The fourth-year guard will play in the Feb. 16 game in New Orleans for the first time. .Washington F Al Harrington hasnt played since Nov. 12 because of right knee surgery. Wittman said he thinks Harrington will play again this season, but wouldnt put a timetable on it. Luis Gonzalez Jersey . -- Lindsey Vonn squeezed in a little freeskiing on Thanksgiving morning, a step in the right direction for a return to racing after reinjuring her right knee in a recent training crash. Arizona Diamondbacks Jerseys . Parnell will be out much longer if it turns out he needs surgery. But first, he will try resting for two weeks before beginning a throwing program that could last up to a month, general manager Sandy Alderson said. http://www.diamondbacksapparelsshop.com/curt-schilling-jersey-c-16/ . -- The taxing preseason, which included two games in China, is finally over. Randy Johnson Jersey . Though the 26-year-old said he was able to participate, coach Dwane Casey kept Johnson out as a precaution. Custom Arizona Diamondbacks Jerseys . - Considering where Jeff Gordon was after Richmond, left out of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship in part due to some late-race shenanigans, he couldnt have been happier on Sunday.INDIANAPOLIS - Accustomed to using its offence to win games, the Atlanta Hawks have recently relied upon its defence. That was the case when the Hawks beat the Indiana Pacers 108-92 on Monday night. It was the fifth time in the last seven games that the Hawks have held an opponent under 100 points.I think our defence is superb right now, said DeMarre Carroll.The Hawks (14-6) have now won eight of their last nine games, including seven straight, their longest streak since the 2009-10 season.The Hawks dominated early and built a 28-18 lead in the first quarter.Carroll led the Hawks early, scoring nine points — all from 3-point range. He finished with 12 points.Carroll has been struggling, so it was good that he got going Jeff Teague said. Once that happened it created a lot of open looks for everybody.Al Horford led the Hawks with a season-high 25 points and had eight rebounds and was one of four players to score in double figures. Teague had 21 points and Kyle Korver added 13.Our guys activity and energy on both ends of the court was good, Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. We just need to keep getting better and build off that.The Hawks came out firing from long range. Atlanta was 6 of 13 on 3-pointers during the first half, but struggled in the second half and finished 9 of 21.Weve had some good first quarters and obviously if we can make a couple threes that will open up the court and maybe allow us to get to the basket, Budenholzer said. The early outside success opened things up inside as the Hawks scored 22 points in the paint in the first half and finished with 48.The Hawks pushed their lead to 21 points three times. The first time was whenn Teague scored on a layup, was fouled and hit the freethrow to put Atlanta up 68-47 with 8:25 to play in the third quarter.ddddddddddddIndiana went on a couple of runs. Late in the first half the Pacers went on a 10-2 run to close the gap to 49-39, but the Hawks answered and took a 60-43 lead into the half.C.J. Miles led a fourth-quarter run, scoring all 15 of his points in the final period. Rodney Stuckey also scored 15 points for Indiana. But it wasnt enough. But it wasnt enough for the Pacers.Our energy level throughout the whole 48 minutes is not what it should be, Scola said. Teams are coming at us early and then we try to react and its just too hard.___BITTEN BY THE BUG AGAINThe Pacers lost another key player when Ian Mahinmi tore his left plantar fascia during Fridays loss to Sacramento. Last season the Pacers had 17 players on the roster throughout the season and they missed a combined 69 games. This season through 14 games, seven players have missed a combined 71.TIP-INSAtlanta: The Hawks averaged 103.3 points and 27.7 assists and held their opponents to 88.7 points during the six-game winning streak that were on entering Monday nights game. Horford (11), Carroll (10) and Teague (10) each scored in double figures during the first half.Indiana: The Pacers current five-game losing streak is their second of the season. The first was October 31-November 8 when they dropped six straight. Indiana averaged 72.5 per cent from the free-throw line entering the game and its 53 per cent was near its season low of 50 per cent.UP NEXTAtlanta: Host the Philadelphia 76ers on WednesdayIndiana: Host the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday ' ' '