Wizards Big Third Sinks Wine and Gold

If you’re reading now, you’ve probably read these three words before: third quarter blues.

The Wine and Gold had gone toe-to-toe with the Conference’s hottest squad through the first half – trailing Washington by just a half-dozen at the turn – but Cleveland went cold in the third quarter, netting just 16 points, as the Wizards blew the lid off en route to the 122-93 win on Friday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

The first half featured nine ties and 11 lead-changes, after three quarters the Wizards by 23 points – and there was no furious fourth-quarter rally in the works as Washington topped Cleveland for the second time in five days.

The Cavaliers finally got some good news on the health front to start Friday’s contest, with Collin Sexton returning to the lineup after missing the previous three games with a concussion. But his backcourt mate, Darius Garland, was forced to exit the game in the third quarter after tweaking his left ankle and didn’t return for the remainder of the night.

Sexton wasn’t especially sharp from the floor, but still led the Wine and Gold with 22 points – going 7-for-19 from the floor, but just 1-of-6 from long-range, adding seven boards and a pair of assists. On the negative side of the ledger, the third-year man from ‘Bama also committed eight of Cleveland���s 25 turnovers.

The Cavs’ next-leading scorer was Cedi Osman, and he didn’t exactly have his best shooting night either, netting 14 points on 4-of-11 shooting in 19 minutes off the bench.

Jarrett Allen doubled-up for Cleveland, finishing with 13 points and a team-high 11 boards – going 6-of-9 from the floor to go with a pair of helpers and a blocked shot.

Garland added 12 points before he left the game in the third after coming down awkwardly on Davis Bertans foot, going 5-of-11 from the floor to go with three assists and a pair of rebounds.

Isaac Okoro was the only other Cavalier in double-figures – finishing with 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting. Kevin Love grabbed 10 boards in 22 minutes of work, but went scoreless after not attempting a shot from the floor or the stripe.

As they did on Monday night in Washington, the streaking Wizards dominated in the paint, 66-46, and got a big night from their bench – with their reserves outscoring Cleveland’s, 56-36.

Russell Westbrook notched his NBA-record 14th triple-double this month -- tallying 15 points while leading both teams with 12 rebounds and 11 assists.

Bradley Beal, who came into the contest tied for the league’s scoring lead, led Washington with 19 points, but went just 8-of-24 from the floor in 26 minutes of work.

Miss any of the action? Find all the highlights and photos in the Game Tracker.

Mfiondu Kabengele hits a cutting Damyean Dotson with an accurate pass that Dotson catches and dunks with one hand early in the second quarter.

Things were competitive until the midway point of the third quarter.

The Cavs were down just four, 68-64, when Cedi Osman drained a pair of free throws – but that’s as good as it would get on Friday night.

From there, the Wine and Gold got sloppy – committing six turnovers that paved the way for a 21-4 run by the Wizards. Washington closed out a quarter that began with them up by just six with a 23-point lead, extending it to 33 late in the fourth.

By the Numbers - 13 … straight games that Collin Sexton has topped the 20-point plateau, including Friday night’s matchup against Washington. Over that stretch, the Young Bull is averaging 25.7 points per on .504 shooting from the floor and .847 from the stripe.

Sexton, the East’s 8th-ranked scorer, now has 41 games of 20-plus this season; 102 over the course of this three-year career.

Coach J.B. Bickerstaff, on the message to his shorthanded squad on Friday …

”No matter who’s on the floor, continue to compete, continue to scrap no matter what happens. That’s who we have to be. I know it’s difficult for our guys right now, but we can’t afford the excuse of not going out there and competing. I thought we did, for the most part, but that team is playing well and plays extremely fast in the open court. They took advantage of it tonight.”

Enjoy the best broadcast calls of the night from Cavaliers Radio Network's Tim Alcorn and Rafa Hernandez-Brito from Power 89.1.

After falling to Washington on Friday night, the Wine and Gold get right back after it on Saturday – welcoming Jimmy Butler and the Heat to Cleveland to wrap up the back-to-back.

Following the Cavs final two-day break of the season, they welcome a pair of Western Conference heavy hitters to town for a midweek back-to-back – beginning with a meeting against Devin Booker and the Suns on Tuesday followed by a Wednesday night matchup with Damian Lillard and the Blazers to wrap up the homestand.

Next Friday, Cleveland finally hits the road – traveling to Dallas for the first half of a home-and-home battle with Luka Doncic and the Mavericks.