Wrap-Up – If anyone wondered if the All-Star Break would slow down the Cavaliers’ momentum entering the season’s second half – they got their answer on Friday night in D.C.
John Wall’s driving layup to put Washington up 2-0 to start the affair was about as good as it would get for the Wizards, who trailed the rest of the way as the Cavaliers came out of the Break as hot as they went in – blowing past Washington, 127-89, in front of a sold-out crowd at the Verizon Center.
Cleveland has now won 15 of its last 17 games; the Wizards have now dropped seven of nine. And although there’s still a long way to go, the Wine and Gold also moved ahead of the Wizards into the fourth playoff spot in the East with Friday’s win.
Even with the foul trouble he found himself in midway through the second quarter, LeBron James led all scorers with 28 points in just 25 minutes – going 12-of-21 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from long-distance, to go with six assists and five boards.
Kyrie Irving followed up with 25 points on 9-for-18 shooting, adding a team-high seven assists. J.R. Smith finished with 15 points, going 6-of-12 from the floor to go with five boards, three assists and a pair of steals.
Cleveland also got 43 points from its bench. Iman Shumpert (11 points) and James Jones (10) led the way, with Tristan Thompson grabbing a game-high nine rebounds.
The Cavaliers shot 51 percent from the floor while holding the Wizards to 44 percent. Washington also came into the contest as the league’s fourth-ranked three-point shooting team, but finished just 1-of-16 from beyond the arc.
Kyrie with 25 points, 7 assists.
See LeBron’s one-hand slam
Kyrie to LeBron slam
Go inside the locker room
See the top plays from the game
Turning Point –The Cavaliers trailed for all of 16 seconds on Friday night, but the game was blown open to start the second quarter. And they put the finishing touches on Washington to start the fourth.
Cleveland took control of the game almost immediately and led by nine after one quarter. But behind eight straight points by Iman Shumpert, the Wine and Gold went on a 14-2 run to improve their edge to 21 points. Washington cut Cleveland’s lead to 14 at the end of the first half, but the tone was set. In the third quarter, LeBron’s back-to-back treys helped push the lead back over 20. And the Cavs scored the first 10 points of the fourth quarter to put the game on ice.
By the Numbers – 26-1 … the Cavaliers’ record this season when they score more than 102 points – the best mark in the NBA.
Quotable – Kevin Love, on the Cavs transformation this season …
”I think we're a team that has a different identity. We do the little things more. We’re scrappier and more physical, and we take it to teams first. We’re not waiting for ourselves to get into the game.”
Up Next –After dropping the Wizards in Washington on Friday night, the Cavaliers mini-road trip rolls on with a Sunday afternoon affair in the Big Apple, where they’ll take on the Knicks at 1 p.m. From there, it’s over to the Motor City on Tuesday night for the final time this season. The Wine and Gold come home (briefly) for a nationally-televised Thursday night matchup with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Warriors at The Q. The following night, it’s right back on the road – heading back to Indiana, where the Wine and Gold had their 12-game win streak snapped two weeks ago.