Despite being in the lead for much of the game, the Wizards could not finish off the Cavaliers and lose 92-86.
It was an ugly, low-scoring 1990s type of score, but there was much more to this game. At times it was physical, but the story of this game was the Cavaliers inability to score beyond outside the paint and the Wizards’ turnovers keeping the Cavaliers close. Going into half time the Cavaliers were only shooting 35 percent from the field, but the Wizards also accumulated 13 first half turnovers.
Wizards stayed in control of this affair for much of the night, but their sloppy play did not allow them to pull away. In the 4th quarter, the Cavaliers were able seize some momentum taking a 87-84 lead on a 2nd chance opportunity, that led to Jarrett Allen free throws. After that point, the Cavaliers never looked back.
Ultimately the Wizards lost this game going away from Kyle Kuzma down the stretch and having a hard time keeping the Cavs off the boards. Wizards drop their 2nd straight, 92-86.
Kuzma coming up big again in the Land despite loss
Kyle Kuzma despite the loss was spectacular, scoring 34 points, including making a career-high 8 3 pointers. In the first matchup these two teams had in Cleveland, Kuzma hit a clutch 3 to close out the game. For this game, Kuzma’s damage largely came early on and the Wizards couldn’t get him going down the stretch to finish this game off.
Bad Shooting from the Cavs, but Sloppy Offense for Wizards
Cavaliers picked up the win despite playing an ugly offensive game. Cavs relied on points in the paint for much of the game (44 total), but were able to get some huge 3s by Lauri Markannen down the stretch to give them just enough to pull this out.
On the other end, the Wizards were unable to take advantage of the bad Cleveland shooting early on because of sloppy play. The Wizards were able to clean up their play in the 2nd half, only committing 5 turnovers (13 in the first half), but by the time this happened, the Cavs had figured things out offensively. The Wizards needed to put this team away early and they simply could not, and it ultimately cost them.