Tom Withers

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — As the Cavaliers descend to the bottom of the standings in the final days of another depressing season, questions have mounted about coach Byron Scott’s future.

No doubt, he’s in trouble.

And while there are plenty of excuses — injuries and a lack of talent are atop the list — for Cleveland’s awful record, Scott’s not using any of them.

CLEVELAND — For more than 40 minutes, the Cavaliers were lifeless and lost.

CLEVELAND -- Across the street from Quicken Loans Arena, a building that rocks and rolls from November until April as home to the Cavaliers, reality is posted on a wall.

Harry Buffalo is one of the downtown restaurants in Cleveland that counts heavily on the beer-drinking, burger-devouring NBA crowd to keep its doors open. Operations manager John Adams has taped an internet report outside the kitchen for his waitresses, bartenders and cooks to read.

CLEVELAND -- Jessica Mendoza traveled the world playing tournaments and in two Olympics for the powerful U.S. softball team.

That decade-long journey, for now, is over.

Mendoza, a two-time Olympic medalist, and seven of her teammates from the 2008 Beijing Games, will not play for Team USA this year, opting to play professionally instead in hopes of growing a sport dropped from the Olympic program.

CLEVELAND -- Jerry Sloan didn't boast about his latest win. It's not his style.

Anyway, he didn't brag about the previous 1,209, so he wasn't about to start.

Sloan moved into a tie with Pat Riley for the third-most coaching wins in NBA history on Monday night, climbing the chart as CJ Miles scored 22 points and Paul Millsap and Raja Bell added 19 apiece to pace the Jazz to a 101-90 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.