Like the previous four foes before them, the Wizards found out the hard way that it’s going to be a “pick-your-poison” situation when the Wine and Gold roll into the gym at full-strength.
LeBron James tenderized the Wizards through the first three quarters, netting 30 of his game-high 34 points heading to the fourth. But it was Kyrie Irving who did the cooking in the final period – scoring 19 of his 32 in a withering late barrage that propelled the Cavs to their fifth straight win, 121-115, on Wednesday night at the Verizon Center.
Tipping off a six-game, 10-day road trip, the Cavaliers came to the nation’s capital looking to avenge their one home loss on an otherwise unblemished record at The Q – an ugly 97-85 defeat on December 1. It wasn’t easy, as the shorthanded Wizards whittled way an 18-point lead to tie the game early in the fourth quarter.
That comeback only seemed to fuel Irving, who got the best of a fellow All-Star guard for the second straight game. His dazzling finger-roll to give Cleveland the 97-95 lead keyed an 11-0 run that put the Wine and Gold in the driver’s seat the rest of the way.
Kyrie was one of four Cavalier starters in double-figures, going 14-for-22 from the floor to go with five boards, three assists, a pair of steals and a blocked shot. He was 8-of-11 from the field during his electrifying fourth quarter.
LeBron led everyone with 34 points – his 23rd career contest topping the 30-point plateau against Washington – finishing 12-of-22 from the floor, including 4-of-9 from long-distance. James added 10 boards, four assists, a steal and a blocked shot in the victory.
J.R. Smith added 25 points on another hot performance from beyond the arc. The veteran guard was 10-for-16 from the floor, 5-of-10 from deep to go with three boards and a game-high three steals. Including Monday night’s win over the Raptors, Smith is a combined 13-of-23 from long-range.
Tristan Thompson was the fourth starter to net double-figures, finishing with 12 points and three boards.
Cleveland’s bench didn’t put up traditional numbers – combining for just 10 points. But Matthew Dellavedova came up with two big offensive boards in the fourth quarter and Iman Shumpert – who finished with a solid five-point, six-rebound, three-assist performance led the Cavaliers (by a large margin) with a +19 mark in his 30 minutes of action.
Defensively, the Cavaliers weren’t sharp for the second straight game – allowing a Wizards team that was without its leading scorer, Bradley Beal, to shoot over 55 percent from the floor, 58 percent from long-distance. But they were scorching from the floor again themselves, topping the 120-point mark in consecutive contests – shooting 54 percent and knocking down a dozen three-pointers, the fifth time in their last six outings that they’ve canned at least 11.
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