Cavaliers withstand the Wizards, win 114-106

Cavaliers withstand the Wizards, win 114-106

Sometimes, even games where you are favored by double-digit points are difficult. Sometimes Kyle Kuzma just hits anything, no matter who is guarding him. Winning those games, like the Cleveland Cavaliers did tonight against the Washington Wizards, makes a team feel good. The Cavs managed to overcome a sloppy first half and put together a solid final quarter to down the Wizards in the nation’s capital.

Nightly Notables

Donovan Mitchell did what superstar players do: push their team to a win. Mitchell scored 40 points on 14-25 shooting, including 5-10 from deep. He added five assists as well to go along with eight rebounds, both tied for the team-high. Most importantly, he seemed to get a bucket when the Cavs needed it most. Like this one at the end of the third quarter:

Or this one near the end of the fourth quarter:

On a night when Darius Garland struggled to score the basketball and Jarrett Allen was not his usual efficient self, Mitchell picked up the slack in a big way. Sure, needing 40 points to beat the single-digit-win Wizards is unfortunate. But sometimes that’s how things go.

Evan Mobley deserves some praise too. His offensive renaissance continued tonight against the Wizards, hitting two threes and going 9-10 from the floor. Stepping into a three-pointer in full flow is fun to watch:

Well…that happened

After shooting a blistering 56% from deep against the Sacramento Kings, the Cavs crashed back to Earth against the Wizards. The streaky Max Strus was 0-4 from three-point range and only had one basket overall. Darius Garland was 1-5 and 4-12 shooting overall, plus he turned the ball over three more times. But the three-point shooting was off tonight, aside from Mitchell, Mobley (!), and Dean Wade. Wade was 2-6 from deep, but he and Mobley tied for the second-most three-point makes on the team tonight. A poor shooting night from the Cavs, who also turned the ball over 14 times.

Big Picture

The Cavs kept winning and found a way to scrap together enough points to beat a bad Wizards team. Garland played better in the second half, which is encouraging. Mobley was dominant on a night where Allen was inefficient on offense. Isaac Okoro was a team-high +17. There are positives, but the Cavs also turned the ball over quite a bit, looked rough in the first half, and needed a Herculean effort from Mitchell to beat a team they destroyed two games in a row earlier in the season. Take the win, regroup, and look to correct the mistakes.

The Cavs will have little time, though. They head to Brooklyn and play the Nets tomorrow night at Barclays Center. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.