Cavs win again, but sure take the scenic route

Random dribbles from the Cavaliers’ 121-111 win over the visiting Wizards on Wednesday night at Rocket Arena.

1. I’ve come to the conclusion that these Cavs have no interest in playing a normal basketball game. They blow big leads. They fall behind big. They rally. They hang on. They make you want to pull your hair out. And somehow, they keep winning. Three straight now, and they’re 3-1. So hey, I guess we shouldn’t complain too much. 

2. Anyway, I thought the first half looked like a Slam Dunk Contest. Except none of the contestants played for the Cavs. It was all Wizards, all the time. Lobs, dunks, backdoor cuts and more dunks. I’m pretty sure every judge would’ve been holding up a 10.

3. Seriously, Washington has some athletes. Long, quick, springy guys who seem to enjoy playing above the rim. And the Cavs were more than happy to accommodate them. At times, I thought they were going to start handing out scorecards.

4. The Wizards scored 42 points in the first quarter and 50 in the paint in the first half. Fifty. That’s an awful lot of uncontested layups and dunks for a team that spent much of the preseason talking about becoming one of the NBA’s best defensive teams.

5. Yet here’s the funny thing: I kept looking up at the scoreboard and thinking the Cavs were actually in decent shape. They were only down 10 at halftime. Washington had played a terrific half, Cleveland had played a pretty lousy one, and the game was still there for the taking. I figured Kenny Atkinson would have something to say in the locker room. He did.

6. Turns out, Atkinson thought the Cavs were treating Washington like the Wizards of old. He reminded them at halftime that this was a much different team. Anthony Davis, Trae Young, Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulibaly and No. 1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa aren’t exactly the same crew that’s been collecting lottery picks for years. The Cavs found that out rather quickly.

7. To their credit, they did something about it. The second half looked like an entirely different game. Fewer uncontested trips to the rim. Fewer backdoor lobs. More resistance. More attention to detail. The Cavs started defending like they had some interest in preventing the Wizards from scoring.

8. In short, Washington scored 50 points in the paint in the first half and just 16 in the second. The Cavs outscored the Wizards 62-42 after halftime. That’s not some minor adjustment. That’s a team recognizing what was killing it and doing something about it. Credit to Atkinson and his guys.

9. We also shouldn’t fail to mention Jarrett Allen. He had a couple of big blocks late in the first half, including a beauty against Davis. I’ve said all along that Allen, Evan Mobley and Peyton Watson should give the Cavs one of the NBA’s better groups of rim protectors. After watching the first half, I was beginning to reconsider. But the second half restored some faith.

10. Speaking of Mobley, how about that guy? Twenty-four points, 12 rebounds and five 3-pointers. Yes, five — or one shy of his career high. That’s his third straight double-double, too. When Mobley is shooting like that, good luck figuring out how to defend the Cavs. 

11. Watson wasn’t bad himself. Twenty-two points, along with the type of activity that makes you understand why the Cavs wanted him. Atkinson called him “all over the place,” and meant it as a compliment. He also pointed out how rare it is to have a wing who can protect the basket like Watson. Frankly, I think we’re only beginning to see what he can bring to this team.

12. Donovan Mitchell finished with 19 points, and I’m not particularly concerned about the Cavs’ offense. Between Mitchell, James Harden, Mobley, Allen and Watson, they have plenty of ways to score. And that’s before we even get to Jaylon Tyson, Sam Merrill, Meleek Thomas and Mario Hezonja. There’s no shortage of guys who can put the ball in the basket. The question is whether they can consistently keep the other team from doing the same.

13. Dybantsa scored 19 points in his NBA debut, by the way, and looked pretty comfortable for a kid playing his first game. Davis added 18 and Young finished with 14. These Wizards are going to be a handful. Atkinson talked afterward about how there just aren’t many easy nights in the NBA anymore. He’s right. Even the teams that used to be easy wins aren’t so easy these days.

14. Now comes the fun part. The Cavs had to get on a plane after the game and head to Atlanta, where they’ll face the Hawks on Thursday night. Nothing like playing a hard-fought game, flying to another city and doing it all over again less than 24 hours later. But as they say, that’s life in the NBA.

15. So, four games in, what do we know? The Cavs are talented. They can score. They can defend when they put their minds to it. And they apparently enjoy making things more difficult than necessary. There are 78 games to go, and I’m sure we’ll learn plenty more along the way.

16. Bottom line? The comebacks are encouraging. So is winning three straight. Now the Cavs need to give themselves a little less to overcome.