Cavaliers win 17th straight 121-111 against young talented Wizards
BY TIM SHIRER
CAVS BEAT WRITER
(CLEVELAND, OH) - Monday night at Rocket Arena the Cleveland Cavaliers did something that few expected after how they looked the first two games. They came back from an 18 deficit to beat the Western Conference powerhouse Minnesota Timberwolves 127-125 to improve to 2-1 on the season.
Entering the contest the Cavaliers had won 16 consecutive games against the Wizards. The streak is now 17 as the Cavs had to battle all night with the up-and-coming Wizards team to take the 121-111 victory. The Cavs have now won three straight after suffering the opening night loss.
The Cavs looked sloppy and almost disinterested early on as the Wizards jumped out to a 9-3 lead with 9:51 left on the first quarter clock. With the Wizards already up 11-6 and 8:56 left on the clock Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson called a timeout. The deficit increased to 19-11 with 6:39 left when Kyshawn George scored in the paint. The Cavs cut the lead to 24-19 with 4:42 left in the first quarter when Evan Mobley drained a three from the top of the arc. With 3:40 remaining in the quarter, the Washington lead shrunk to 24-22 when James Harden hit a three. The Cavs tied the game 28-28 with 2:37 left in the first when Donovan Mitchell drained a three and was fouled. He hit the free throw to tie the game. The Cavs then took the lead when Meleek Thomas was fouled, hit both free throws and gave the Cavs a 30-28 advantage with 2:19 remaining. With 1:43 left Thomas fouled Trae Youngs, he hit all three and Washington led 33-32. The Wizards ended the opening quarter on a 12-2 run to take a 42-34 lead into the second. Alex Saar led all scorers with 13 first quarter points. Mobley and Mitchell paced the Cavs with nine apiece. Although trailing by eight points the Cavs did dominate the boards with a 9-5 rebounding advantage. The big problem for Cleveland was once again turnovers as they turned the ball over seven times in the first 12 minutes resulting in 13 Washington points.
With 7:35 left the listless Cavs looked like they didn’t want to be anywhere near the court or arena as they fell behind by 11 points after Bilal Culibaly dunk with no resistance. The Wizards then took their largest lead to that point 61-49 when Anthony Davis drained a three with 5:09 left in the second quarter. Over the next 1:40 the Cavs played as they’re expected and the Wizards played like they have over most of the last 40 years and the Cavs cut the lead to 63-57 with 3:29 left in the half. Wizards head coach Brian Keefe took a timeout. With about a minute left on the clock, the Washington lead was back at 12 when Davis scored on a layup and the Wizards led 69-57. As time ran out in the opening half the Wizards led 69-59. Watson led all scorers with 16 points at the half. Coulibaly led the Wizards with 14 points. The Wizards were on fire from the field shooting 62% (28 of 45) while the Cavs shot a pedestrian 46% (22 of 48). The Cavs were better than the Wizards from long range shooting 38% (8 of 21) while the Wizards shot just 25% (3 of 12). The Cavs continued to outrebound the Wizards 22-16. The Cavs did manage to curb the turnover problem in the second quarter, committing only two and finishing the half with nine. Washington turned the ball over four times in the opening 24 minutes.
Things looked the same at the start of the third quarter, listless Cavs, youthful Wizards who wanted a win and with 10:10 left on the clock AJ Dybantsa dunked giving Washington a 76-63 lead, Atkinson called a timeout. The Cavs trimmed the lead to eight with 6:20 left in the third when Harden found Mobley in the paint. The Cavs cut the lead to four points at 87-83 with 3:47 remaining in the quarter when Jaylon Tyson drained hit a three then to one point when Sam Merrill hit a three after the Cavs stuffed the Wizards defensively. The score was 87-86 with 3:17 and Washington took a timeout. The Cavs tied the game 92-92 on two free throws by Mitchell with :33.2 left in the quarter and that’s how it ended. Watson and Saar led all scorers with 18 each. The Cavs were dominating the boards through three 34-22.
The Cavs took the lead immediately 94-92 as the fourth quarter began when Mitchell hit Mobley in the paint. With 10:29 left Young hit a three and gave the lead back to Washington 97-96. The Cavs quickly regained the lead when Mobley drained a three after a Washington turnover with 9:49 left. With 8:18 left in regulation the Cavs led 102-99. The game went back and forth for the next several minutes until 5:07 left and the Cavs took a 108-105 lead when Watson got his own miss and dropped it home. The Cavs eventually built a 113-105 lead with 3:28 left in the game. In the end the Cavs were just more talented than the upstart Wizards and held on for the 121-111.
Mobley led the Cavs with 24 points and 12 boards for his second straight double double. Watson also had 22 for the Cavs and Jarrett Allen scored just eight points but pulled down 12 boards. Dybantsa led the Wizards with 19 in the loss in his debut at Rocket Arena. Davis and Saar also had 18 apiece for Washington.
The Wizards outshot the Cavs from the field 53% (44 of 83) to 47% (43 of 91), but the Cavs held the edge from three-point range as they shot 37% (14 of 38) while the Wizards only managed to shoot 25% (8 of 32) from long range.
After a turnover laden first half where the Cavs turned it over nine times, they cut that total down ending the game with 13 (four in the second half) which was key factor in the second half comeback.
The Cavs will now travel to Atlanta to take on the Hawks on Thursday night at 8 pm at State Farm Arena.
POSTED 10/28/2026 21:59
Lake County Sentinel
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Cleveland Cavaliers forward Peyton Watson scores in the Cavs 121-11 win over the Washington Wizards Wednesday night at Rocket Arena. Photo by Tim Shirer
