(My Sportsbook) - The Cleveland Cavaliers didn't like the direction the team was headed in, so they fired head coach John Lucas on January 20. However, interim head man Keith Smart hasn't exactly righted the ship.

The Cavs have dropped their last four games to fall to 1-6 since Smart took over. The squad has lost 10 of its last 11 contests overall and still owns the NBA's worst record at 9-40.

After 49 games last season, the Cavs were 16-33 with a less-talented team, showing that Cleveland is regressing instead of progressing.

Cleveland has been poor on both the offensive and defensive ends, leaving a lot of room for improvement. The Cavs are averaging just 90.4 points per game this season, while allowing a league-worst 100.8 per contest.

The Cavs' most recent defeat came in Washington on Tuesday, as they suffered a 93-84 defeat to the Wizards. Cleveland was in the game late, but once again couldn't close the deal.

The Cavs pulled within 77-76 with 6:49 remaining in the fourth quarter on a basket by Dajuan Wagner. However, Tyronn Lue responded with a three-pointer for Washington and Michael Jordan followed with a jumper to push the Wizards' lead to six. Cleveland failed to get closer than three points the rest of the way.

Wagner came off the bench to score 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting in 33 minutes. Zydrunas Ilgauskas collected 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Darius Miles added 13 points.

Ricky Davis scored just seven points on 3-of-14 shooting Wednesday for Cleveland. Davis, the team's leading scorer, has averaged just 12.8 points over the last four games while shooting 29 percent from the field during the span.

"You just have to stay focused," said Davis. "I'm taking it upon myself to come back after the (All-Star) break and get it back going again."

The Cavs shot 43 percent from the floor in the contest and outrebounded Washington 50-36, but committed 22 turnovers. Cleveland dropped its seventh straight on the road and fell to just 3-24 away from home this season.

"As bad as this situation is, it's a great experience of learning because they're getting a chance to play in close ballgames and trying to make plays," Smart said. "A year from now or two years from now, these guys will have grown out of that position. So they have to go through this incredible pain to get a chance to get in position in two or three years from now where we can close out basketball games."

The Cavs host the Houston Rockets on Wednesday before entering the All-Star break. Four of the team's first five games after the break will also be played at Gund Arena.