How Cleveland Cavaliers avoided a loss against Washington Wizards

Cleveland and Washington traded buckets to start off the Friday-night faceoff. The Cavs blinked first as the guard duo of CJ McCollum and Bub Carrington were lights out from long range, but some close-up blows and some solid scoring from Mobley put the Cavs back within fighting range. The fifth-year Cavalier took point for the Cavs in the first quarter as he battled with Washington big Marvin Bagley III, who ended the night with 15 points and 13 boards of his own.

A defensive swing, along with a sudden surge from Mitchell, gave the Cavs all the momentum they needed to stay ahead until the Wizards came marching right back in the second quarter. Washington would earn a much-needed lead as the Cavs hit an appalling seven of their 23 shots in the third quarter while the Wizards sped ahead with 12 makes on 19 tries.

Mitchell proved to be the only real bright spot for the Cavs from the 3-point line as they continued their slide from long range. Guard Darius Garland was ice-cold from the 3-point line, where he missed the mark on every one of his 11 attempts.

Their pop-a-shot approach from the arc led to 34 first-half 3-pointers, far ahead of the high volume they already average per game. Cleveland finished its last three games with marks below 31% entering tonight's matchup. A handful of lights-out games have kept the Cavs from completely plunging from the 3-point line this season. They still ranked 23rd in the league in 3-point percentage despite leading it with 44 attempts per game before tonight's game, a stark contrast from their second-place spot just one season ago.

Winning over Washington has become nothing short of routine since Cleveland first started taking flight and ended its recent short-term rebuild. The Cavs last fell to the Wizards in the regular season in 2021, when now-Los Angeles Clippers guard Bradley Beal dropped 29 points on a Cleveland team on the rise with head coach J.B. Bickerstaff.

The Cavs steamrolled Washington in their second game of NBA Cup play this season, where an all-around spectacle was highlighted by seven Cavaliers who ended the night in double figures. The Cavs will face the Wizards twice more this season, including in their final regular-season game at home.

Cleveland needed a pick-me-up after dropping six of its last 10 matchups, including a close loss to the Golden State Warriors before their lengthy break. The once-fearsome Cavs, who earned a near-franchise high of 64 regular-season wins just last season, fell into Play-In range in the Eastern Conference standings after hitting a recent rough patch.

Their 14-11 record heading into the road game put them on par with the Miami Heat and the Atlanta Hawks and 5.5 games behind the first-place Detroit Pistons. The Cavs will face the Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls and New Orleans Pelicans, all of whom fell out of playoff range in their respective conferences before tonight's game, before suiting up in a Christmas Day matchup against the New York Knicks on the road.

Cleveland will move on to face Charlotte at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday in Rocket Arena. The game will be broadcast on FanDuel Sports Network.