Momentum at the Cleveland Cavaliers was stalled last night, as the team suffered a loss to the Washington Wizards, giving the new-look team their first loss since they made trades on trade deadline day to change their fortunes in the Eastern Conference.

The Cavaliers lost 110-103 to the Wizards at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on Thursday night despite the fact LeBron James had a triple-double performance. He finished with 32 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, two steals, and he was 13-of-18 from the field.

Cleveland simply wasn't able to contain Washington's attack, as the visitors finished with five players in double digits, nor were they able to respond with an attack of their own, as only three Cavaliers finished in double digits (Tristan Thompson and JR Smith were the other two besides LeBron).

This was the first time in five games that the Cavaliers had lost, and their first defeat since George Hill, Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson, and Larry Nance Jr. joined the team in trades on trade deadline day on February 8.

After the game, James spoke to the media and said that while the new-look team lost on the night, he can still see a lot of potential this season in his new teammates, as he believes they played well on the court.

The Cavaliers star said, according to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com: "I think we played well tonight, even though we lost. I hate losing, obviously, but I think the way we played, the way we shared the ball. Defensively, we were flying around as well and those guys, they just played better than us tonight.

However, James doesn't believe he's had his own personal rebirth thanks to the trades made earlier this month.

"I don't agree with that. I just think that I re-focused myself. Before the deadline happened, before the trades happened, I re-focused myself to understand that I'm the leader of this team and I have to be mentally sharp and mentally strong throughout anything.

"Even before the trade, I planned on us having that team for the rest of the season. That was just my mindset and you saw that in the Minnesota game. We hadn't made the trades then and in the Minnesota game, I just started to change my mindset. That's just who I am.

"Where I am now, I think we can be really good. Like I said, we got 20-plus games left to try to figure it out. I think if we can do that, we continue what we're on now, then we'll be OK."

The Cavaliers play next when they travel to Memphis to take on the Grizzlies tonight.