It was 108-108 with 2:45 to go when the Cavs collapsed and were outscored 11-2 the rest of the way. Westbrook and Beal took over at crunch time while Garland missed two layup/floaters in a row and then committed a turnover. But he played 40 minutes so he was running on fumes at the end.
I'd agree it was a good loss. They were right there until the final two minutes. Allen had a monster game with 27 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 offensive boards, not to mention 3 blocks, 2 steals, and several altered shots that were missed. Great game by him on both ends. By the way, he's hitting 84.7% of his free throws in April. Huge improvement.
The Wizards' bench destroyed the Cavs' bench 51-14. We have no scorers coming off the bench whatsoever, just a bunch of hard-nosed defenders. Wade, Stevens, and Thomas were scoreless in 15 minutes of combined action. Nance had 5 points in 23 minutes. We really needed Prince tonight. Sexton would have helped, too. But Washington was missing three starters.
The Cavs had 19 turnovers to 10 for Washington, giving the Wizards 11 more shots. The Wizards also had 10 offensive rebounds. It wasn't Westbrook and Beal that beat us, it was our lack of a bench, turnovers, and allowing too many offensive rebounds.
Daniel Gafford came up big for the Wizards with 12 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and 4 blocks off the bench. The 22-year-old was a second round pick in 2019. Just goes to show how those second round picks have value.
Nice to see Cedi play well in a spot start with 19 points and 5 assists.
Nobody is beating the Wizards right now except Phoenix. But at least the Cavs gave them a run for their money and were tied with under three minutes to go. But now they have to fly to Florida and play Toronto tomorrow.