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Cavs Go Wire-to-Wire Over Wizards

Wrap-Up – There’s nothing like a Thanksgiving eve win to make Thursday’s turkey taste that much better. The Cavaliers were also able to avenge a difficult loss in D.C. five days earlier by going wire-to-wire over the Wizards and running away with the 113-87 win on Wednesday night at The Q.

Once again, LeBron James came out aggressive, and he didn’t take his foot off the gas until taking a seat with 7:52 remaining in the fourth and the Cavaliers up 19 points.

On the night, the four-time MVP led both teams with 29 points, 10 boards and eight assists. James was 7-for-14 from the floor and 14-of-17 from the stripe, adding three of Cleveland’s 13 steals.

Kevin Love followed up with 21 points, going 7-of-10 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the line. Kyrie Irving was 7-for-15 from the floor – including 3-of-5 from long-distance – netting 18 points, five helpers and three steals. Anderson Varejao rounded out the Cavalier starters in double-figures with 10 points, going a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor.

The Cavs bench – which was badly outplayed by the Wizards reserves five days ago – bounced back with 29 points, 25 of which via Dion Waiters, who finished with 15 points, six assists and three steals of his own. Tristan Thompson added 10 points – going 4-of-4 from the floor. He and Varejao combined to hold Washington’s Marcin Gortat to 12 points and two boards while not missing a single shot from the field.

Last Friday, the Cavaliers committed 19 turnovers that led to 24 Wizards’ points. On Wednesday, they committed just 10 miscues that resulted in seven points. Cleveland shot 51 percent from the floor and took 16 more free throws than Washington.

LeBron finishes with 29p/11a

See the top images from the win

LeBron throws the hammer down

Go inside the locker room

Watch full final game highlights from Wednesday's win.

Turning Point – Sometimes the turning point of the game comes early, and that was the case on Wednesday. The Cavaliers led Washington by three, 13-10, just after the halfway point of the first quarter. But LeBron, Irving and Waiters keyed a quick 10-0 run that put Cleveland up a baker’s dozen. The Wizards didn’t seriously challenge the Wine and Gold the rest of the way – trailing by as many as 29 and cutting the Cavs’ edge to single-figures just twice the rest of the way.

By the Numbers2 … fastbreak points allowed by the Cavaliers on Wednesday night at The Q – topping the Wizards, 17-2.

QuotableKyrie Irving, on Wednesday’s big win over Washington …

”We definitely wanted to come out with a different focus from what we had in Washington. We kind of owed them one tonight. It was one of those games where we definitely had to get back on track. Obviously we had a great Orlando game, but this was definitely a meaningful game – as well as every game – but this one definitely meant a little bit more.”

Up Next – The Cavs close out the month of November on Saturday night when the Indiana Pacers make their first appearance of the season in Cleveland. The following Tuesday, they tip off December with the arrival of the Milwaukee Bucks before hitting the road for a three-game set, hoping to avenge home losses in the first two. On Thursday, they travel to the Big Apple to face the Knicks before heading north of the border to face the Raptors on Friday. The following Monday, they close out the short roadie with a matchup against the Nets in Brooklyn.