Home sick: LeBron James stays home with flu symptoms as Wizards beat Cavaliers 109-104

Foye’s 21 points lead Wizards past James-less Cavs

CLEVELAND — LeBron James was sick. The Cleveland Cavaliers were sunk.

Randy Foye scored 19 points in the fourth quarter to spark Washington’s rally and led the Wizards to a 109-104 exhibition win over the Cavaliers, who played without a flu-ridden James on Wednesday night.

Foye finished with 21 points and Mike Miller, recently criticized by some teammates for wearing James’ signature Nike sneakers, made 5-of-5 3-pointers and scored 24. Gilbert Arenas added 18 points as the Wizards handed the Cavs their first loss of the preseason.

James stayed home to get rest after battling flu-like symptoms the past two days. He wasn’t the only Cavaliers player not feeling well as both forward Darnell Jackson and Coby Karl were also out with the flu. All three players were told to stay away from the arena so they wouldn’t infect others.

And, as a standard precaution, the three will be tested for the H1N1 virus, Cavaliers officials said.

The Cavaliers were also without guards Mo Williams (groin), Delonte West (personal reasons) and forward Danny Green (leg bruise).

The Wizards came in healthier but lost forward Antawn Jamison in the first quarter with a sprained right shoulder.

Washington trailed 93-92 when Foye went on one-man tear. He scored on a reverse, converted a three-point play, assisted on Nick Young’s dunk and hit a jumper to put the Wizards ahead 101-93.

Foye later put the game away by making six straight free throws in the final 16.1 seconds.

Jawad Williams scored 21 to lead the Cavaliers and Shaquille O’Neal added 13 in 19 minutes.

Miller came to Washington’s training camp sporting a pair of James’ shoe model, prompting guard DeShawn Stevenson to say “he got to get them out of here.” Stevenson and James have had heated battles in the past, including a postseason war of words two years ago that involved rappers Jay-Z and Soulja Boy.

Stevenson has since softened his stance with Miller.

Arenas, fined $25,000 by the NBA earlier this week for not making himself available to the media, looked quick and fully recovered after playing in just 15 games the past two seasons because of knee injuries.

O’Neal showed he can still do a little bit of everything.

He scored 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting in the first half. O’Neal delivered two dunks, one a signature Shaq-attack, backboard-shaking number. O’Neal also drove the lane and flipped in a reverse layup. One another sequence, he grabbed a rebound on the defensive end and led the fastbreak up the floor before sending a no-look underhanded pass to Anthony Parker.