Welp, it’s a win. And it counts. The Cavs flew a bit too close to the sun for parts of the game, but you can count on Washington to give you a win when you need it most.
The first quarter started off with the stink of previous games with four turnovers and two missed free throws in the first four minutes. In that same time the Wizards had a three point advantage.
To their credit, the Cavs recovered with only seven more turnovers the next 44 minutes.
The Wizards were going at the Cavs in the paint early and were not deterred by the Twin Towers. 7 of their 21 makes in the restricted area came in the first quarter.
Evan Mobley has been more aggressive in initiating contact in looking for his shot. He still may not have the strength to consistently move people, but he’s been using it to keep defenders off balance and create space. He did it once against Bilal Coulibaly and another time against Kyle Kuzma. It’s exciting to see and helped him to eight first quarter points with 21 on the night.
Mobley along with Allen have been off to strong starts lately, and the Cavs have systemically changed how they start games. The Cavs have pounded the paint, playing to their strength inside. Over the last 10 games, the Cavs have the 9th highest percentage of first quarter points in the paint. During their streak without Mobley and Garland, the Cavs were 20th in percentage of first quarter points in the paint.
The Cavs first quarter net rating the last 10 games is +4.1, good for 12th. During their streak without Mobley and Garland, their net rating was +12.7, good for 2nd. Their starts of late haven’t been terrible but they haven’t built the noticeable advantage they were getting on teams.
One thing that is noticeable is the Cavs lack of three-point shooting to start games. Within their last 10 games, they’re 17th in first quarter 3PA. During the streak, they were tied for 2nd in 3PA.
Coincidence? Perhaps. But the Cavs early game perimeter shooting did often help in getting out to quick leads and putting opposing teams in a hole early whereas the inside game has been efficient but is easier to overcome for opposing teams when it comes to fending off leads.
The Cavs did increase their three-point frequency as the game went on. After only five first quarter three-point attempts they attempted eight, nine and ten in the following quarters.
Donovan Mitchell was back illness and the All-Star break, and it looked like he may need some ramping up. In the first quarter, he had 2 FGA, 2 TOs, 1 personal foul and was a -9. For the night, he had some moments but for the most part didn’t have his typical off-dribble explosiveness.
Honest question: How many successful possessions go from Garland to Mitchell to Garland, or vice versa? It seems like the back-and-forth between the two is not free flowing and as efficient as it can be.
Taking it one step further: When Garland and Mobley were out, Mitchell and the cast around him utilized the full floor consistently on possessions, forcing defenses to guard the whole court. When Garland back, the full floor usage hasn’t been as consistent, and the ball has been sticking on one side of the floor throughout possessions. It’s made for some clunky offensive possessions.
Getting back to the game.. the Wizards went up by as many as eight in the first quarter. However, the Garland and Mobley staggered lineup came in with under three minutes left and ended up closing the gap by four points.
The Cavs were searching for something and didn’t have luck going their way. There were two empty transition possessions that went the other way for three-point makes for the Wizards creating two separate five point swings.
Garland hasn’t quite regained his offensive shot confidence and looks like a guy searching for it. His shot decisions are fine but, in every shot, attempt you can tell he’s just waiting for a few in a row to go in to get that feel back. He’s still searching but may have found it later.
If the Garland and Mobley staggered lineup did their job in the first quarter, the Mitchell and Allen staggered lineup did their job in the second. In just under three minutes the lineup went on a 10-2 run.
During that stretch, Mitchell was so good about controlling the game offensively and putting his teammates for success. While not a natural point, the type of feel and control exhibited by Mitchell in the stretch is what some are hoping to see more consistently with Garland. It’s a feel that the Cavs offense runs through their best player and the outcome of every possession will put their players in positions to succeed.
The Wizards had a 28-18 bench point advantage at half with Jordan Poole going for 17 first half points, but the Cavs were getting some better offensive production off the bench than previous games.
Allen had 16 points, 7 rebounds, four assists and one block at half time. The fro was rolling, literally pick-and-rolling, his way to the basket with ease.
Speaking of which, Max Strus is so freaking good passing out of the pick-and-roll. For as much as he’s been billed as an elite shooter, he’s been just as elite finding bigs on pick-and-roll plays. He’s so adept at placing soft pocket passes to bigs between two defenders leading to highly efficient paint touches.
In an interesting twist, JB Bickerstaff had Georges Niang and Caris LeVert first off the bench to start the second half. Typically, that role has been for Dean Wade and Isaac Okoro. Perhaps it was a game flow thing or perhaps it was his attempt to tighten the rotation as the playoffs get near, but it is something to watch.
While the Wade and Okoro first off the bench pairing recreates that streak lineup with Allen and Mitchell, I also wouldn’t mind seeing more minutes between Mitchell and Niang, and having Niang come off the bench first would allow more of.
Over the last ten games, the Mitchell + Niang pairing has a +24 net rating. If Niang is going to be in the rotation, it would be best to tether his minutes to Mitchell, who historically have strong numbers together.
The Cavs took control in the third quarter pushing their lead to double digits at various points. After trailing for much of the first half, they led for all but :29 seconds in the third quarter. It helps when you hold the opposing team to 37% shooting.
It wouldn’t be a Wizards game without Jordan Poole getting hot. He scored 11 fourth quarter points, and the Wizards went on a 14-1 run start.
However, the Cavs defense took control once again. The Wizards only scored 11 points the next nine minutes. Outside of the quick 5-5 hot stretch to start the quarter, the Cavs held the Wizards to 34% shooting (22-64) from quarter two to quarter four.
After that run, the Cavs quickly struck back with back-to-back three-point makes by Garland, with LeVert setting him up on both. The six points were part of Garland’s 10 fourth quarter points and +15 which led the team.
This coincided with the Cavs going on a 11-1 run of their own.
And hey, LeVert hit a three – his first in three games. It was part of a fantastic fourth quarter for LeVert with seven points, six rebounds and three assists.
It was also part of a fantastic game for LeVert who nearly had a triple-double: 18 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists. Amazingly enough, he had zero turnovers and his 8 assists created 21 points.
The Cavs were up by 12 with two minutes left but a couple of quick mistakes allowed the Wizards to get within two possessions. A late Kyle Kuzma three-pointer could have made it interesting, but the Cavs made their free-throws and closed out the game.
The Cavs finished with 35 assists which is the third highest team total on the year.
Two areas the Cavs really struggled to convert: Corner threes and in the paint. They were only 2-10 on corner threes, and shot 29% on paint touches.
Sam Merrill and Dean Wade combined for only 14 minutes.
Niang has now hit 2+ three-pointers in back-to-back-to-back games. It’s been just over a month since he last did that.
Allen had another fantastic game showing his worthiness has an All-Star snub. He had 22 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, one block and was a +15.
Garland paced the team with a +22 on the night
Up next: The Cavs return home Tuesday to take on the Mavericks at 7PM (ET).
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