Cavaliers 140-101 Victory Over Washington

The Cavaliers took care of business Wednesday night against the Wizards with a win in Cleveland. Here’s a look at what stood out in this Cavaliers 140-101 victory over Washington. 

Starting lineup

The Cavs went with a starting lineup of Donovan Mitchell, Max Strus, Isaac Okoro, Dean Wade and Jarrett Allen. Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Ty Jerome are still out with injury. 

Standout Players

Back on track, Allen had himself another big double-double (his fifth consecutive in fact). He finished with 17 points, 19 rebounds, seven assists and two blocks. Although his first career triple-double is still eluding him, if he keeps playing like this he’s gonna grab it sooner rather than later. 

Mitchell also had another solid outing with 22 points, three rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals. Although it’s not one of his bigger scoring nights, him being able to do a little bit of everything in a game where everyone is going can be just as effective. 

Coming off the bench, Caris LeVert chipped in 21 points, five rebounds, five assists, a block and a steal. LeVert is the type of player to make his 21 point outing feel much larger. His slashing, pull-ups, and emphatic dunks tend to stand out as he continues to be one of the more effective secondary guys in the league this season. 

Another player who’s been effective coming off the bench for Cleveland recently is Georges Niang. He finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and an assist. Although his numbers aren’t the highest, and his play isn’t the flashiest, his craftiness and ability to stretch the floor have kept opposing defenses from getting too comfortable on defense. Although he started the season slow, Niang’s consistency has been impressive. 

Sam Merrill has also been extremely impressive. He finished the night with 11 points, five rebounds and six assists. What stands out most about him is his confidence in his shooting. His quickness to pull the trigger, and accuracy from deep, he’s been an essential part of Cleveland’s bench these last couple weeks. 

Takeaways 

Last game against the Raptors, when the Cavs lost 121-124 in Toronto, it never really felt like Cleveland’s game. This game was the opposite. Although there were a total of nine lead changes, this game was firmly in Cleveland’s control. Washington, I’m their time ahead, led by five at the most. Cleveland led by 44. Cleveland dished out 14 more assists than Washington, and grabbed almost twice as many rebounds.

They also performed better than Washington in field goal percentage, three-point percentage, free throw percentage, points in the paint, second chance points and fast break points. Cleveland even dropped their team turnovers to eight.

This was an overall dominant performance by the Cavaliers. Despite the fact that they were playing one of the worst teams in the league, they need to win these games and this was an impressive outing. Especially considering they’re missing two of their three biggest stars (and Ricky Rubio’s retirement).

Cleveland faces off against Washington again this Friday night (January 5) at 7:30 PM in Cleveland. 

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