The Washington Wizards played one of their better games of the season, but it wasn’t quite enough. They dropped to 3-20 with a 130-124 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Wizards trailed by two at the half, and opened the second with a 24-6. They dominated the period, outscoring the Cavaliers 40-23 and taking a 15-point lead.
Unfortunately for the Wizards, there were still 12 minutes to play. Cleveland outscored Washington 12-2 in the first couple minutes of the fourth quarter, and poured in 45 points in final period to secure the win in the final minutes.
Donovan Mitchell was everything you’d expect of one of the league’s elite players. He dumped 48 on the Wizards, hitting 17-31 from the floor and 8-15 from deep. With Bilal Coulibaly sidelined, the Wizards had no one to defend Mitchell.
While the Wizards played well, it was in many ways a classic #SoWizards loss — and I’m not talking about giving up a double-digit lead to start the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers shot poorly — just 15-53 from three-point range. That 28.3% three-point shooting was boosted by a couple late makes.
Even with Cleveland firing blanks, the game was a dog fight. That’s because of some of Washington’s usual flaws — they allowed 15 offensive rebounds, had 17 turnovers (10 more than the Cavaliers), and committed 27 fouls that resulted in 36 Cleveland free throw attempts. The Cavs made 33.
The turnover differential was costly. Cleveland scored 26 points off Wizards miscues to Washington’s 13.
The Wizards tried to limit Cleveland’s ability to score inside and had some success in the first half, allowing just 20 points in the paint. Their pack-the-lane strategy contributed to the Cavaliers launching 53 threes. The Cavs had more success inside in the second half and finished the game outscoring Washington inside, 50-36.
Stats & notes coming soon.