Cavaliers blow out Wizards 118-87

BY TIM SHIRER

CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER

(CLEVELAND, OH) - The Cleveland Cavaliers entered Tuesday Night’s game against the Washington Wizards with the best record in the NBA. On Sunday they proved a point to the rest of the league and many of the critics when they defeated the Boston Celtics 115-111 in front of a euphoric crowd at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The Cavs got the win, but how they got there was a little different as Cleveland blew out the overmatched Wizards 118-87.

The Cavs were without early season sparkplug Ty Jerome who was out due to an unspecified illness. Early in the action it was the Evan Mobley show as he scored the first five points of the contest giving the Cavs a 5-0 lead with 10:46 left on the clock in the opening quarter when he drained a three. The Cavs then moved out to an 11-4 lead with 9:37 remaining after a pair of three by Donovan Mitchell and Isaac Okoro hit threes. With 7:23 left Mitchell hit Darius Garland in the corner and Garland drained the Cavs fourth three giving Cleveland a 19-6 lead. With 4:43 left in the quarter the Cavs took their first double digit lead at 24-14 when Sam Merrill hit a three. After the Wizards cut the lead to eight points the Cavs responded with a three by Georges Niang and Caris LeVert was fouled in the lane hit the shot, but missed the free throw to give the Cavs a 29-16 lead with 3:32 left in the opening period. When time ran out in the quarter the Cavs lead had grown to 15 points at 35-20. Mobley led all scorers with 11 first quarter points. Jonas Valanciunas led the Wizards with 10 points. The Wizards dominated Cleveland on the boards 17-8. The Cavs were 6 of 13 from behind the three point arc while the Wizards were 0 for 6.

With 7:50 left in the first half Wizard’s rookie Kyshawn George out of Switzerland was injured when he collided with Mitchell under the Cavs basket. The injury looked serious, but he was able to walk under his own power into the locker room. He would not return and was diagnosed with a left ankle sprain. The Cavs led 38-22 at the time of the injury. George was scoreless but was providing a lot of energy on both ends for the Wizards. With 4:51 left the Cavs built their lead to 48-28 on a layup in the paint by Jarrett Allen. Washington coach Brian Keefe called an immediate timeout. The Cavs went up by 20 points at 53-33 with Niang hit Merrill in the corner and he drained a three with 2:52 left in the first half. The score at the break had the Cavs up 60-42. It was apparent through the first 24 minutes that the young Wizards could not keep up with the Cavs pace or athleticism. Mobley continued to lead all scorers with 13 first half points despite only scoring two in the second quarter. Valanciunas led the Wizards with 11, he only had one point in the second quarter. The Cavs outrebounded Washington in the second period 14-11, but still trailed in the game 28-22. The Cavs edged the Wizards in the paint 22-20 and the Cavs bench dominated the Washington bench, outscoring them 20-6. Washington also turned the ball over 12 times resulting in 14 Cavs points. The Cavs shot 42% (10 OF 24) from behind the three point arc, while the Wizards struggled shooting just 14% (2 of 14).

Early in the third quarter the Cavs continued to build their lead. After Okoro hit a jumper and was fouled, hitting the free throw the Cavs led 68-44 and the blow out was in full effect with 10:34 remaining. With 8:17 remaining Garland was hit in the face by Valanciunas and remained on the floor for several minutes holding his head. Garland did not return and was being evaluated after taking the blow to the head. He eventually walked under his own power to the locker room. Both teams traded baskets for the remainder of the third quarter. The Wizards did continue to outrebound the Cavs 43-30, outrebounding Cleveland 15-8 in the third, as the Cavs led 86-67 when the quarter ended. Mobley continued to lead all scorers through three quarters with 15 points. Valanciunas and Poole led the Wizards with 13 apiece.

Washington did cut the Cleveland lead to 86-70 with 11:36 left in the game when Bub Carrington hit a three pointer, that’s right Bub Carrington. The Cavs responded with a three by Sam Merril with 10:22 remaining to extend the lead to 89-70, Merrill then hit another three with 9:19 left when Merrill drained his fourth three of the game. The Cavs’ lead once again was at 25 when Mitchell hit a three with 7:09 left giving the Cavs a 97-72 lead. With 5:41 left Mitchell humiliated the Wizard’s by hitting a three after a turnover giving the Cavs a 104-77 lead. At that point Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson emptied the bench bringing in NBA champion Tristan Thompson and Craig Porter, Jr. for the final five minutes. The veteran leader Thompson was on fire scoring six points in less than three minutes to give the Cavs a 114-83 lead with 2:14 remaining in the contest. When the final buzzer sounded the Cavs blew out the hapless Wizards 118-87.

The Cavs had seven players in double figures and all 12 guys who played scored. Mobley and Mitchell lead in scoring as each had 19 points. Mobley also pulled won 10 rebounds for the double double. The Wizards had three guys who scored 13 apiece in the losing effort.

Cleveland shot 48% (43 of 89) from the field while the Wizards shot 39% (32 of 83). The Wizards were even worse from behind the three point line shooting just 15% (4 of 26). Meanwhile the Cavs shot 35% (16 of 46) from long range. One positive for Washington was they did outrebound the Cavs 52-45. The Wizards turned the ball over 21 times resulting in 25 Cavaliers points.

The Cavs will be in action next on Thursday when they welcome the Denver Nuggets to RMFH at 7 p.m. The Nuggets lead the all-time series 54-44. The Cavs however do lead the all-time series at home (Richfield Coliseum, RMFH) 29-19.