– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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WASHINGTON — The Washington Wizards have had trouble handling prosperity over the past week, specifically holding onto 20-point leads. Unfortunately for the Wizards, the Cleveland Cavaliers showed them how its done, on their win to completing short-yet-very-successful road trip.
Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland each scored 23 points as the Cavaliers shot over 55 percent from the field in a 114-91 wire-to-wire victory over the Wizards at Capital One Arena on Monday night. Donovan Mitchell added 21 points with six rebounds and five assists as Cleveland’s victory capped a modest 2-0 road trip after a win in Indiana on Sunday and marked the team’s first winning road trip of the season.
Cleveland almost couldn’t miss from the jump, shooting a blistering 65.3 percent from the field in the first, 15-of-23 from the field, and scored 37 first-quarter points to open up a 12-point lead. Four of the five starters scored at least six points in the first, with Mitchell leading the way with nine.
Unlike the Wizards, who built a 20-point first-half lead on Friday before losing to Portland and created a 23-point bulge in Brooklyn before succumbing to the Nets on Sunday, the Cavaliers continued to build onto its lead after it reached the 20-point mark, as Cleveland built a 66-46 lead at the half.
Kristaps Porzingis’ three-pointer on the first possession of the second half brought the Wizards to within 17 at 66-49, and that was as close the Wizards would come for the rest of the evening. Despite aggravating a groin injury just two weeks ago in a loss in New York against the Knicks, Mitchell played in tonight’s second half of a back-to-back, and his statline tonight made up for his 6-for-18 shooting performance in yesterday’s win over the Pacers.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Monday evening’s game, with all photos taken by DC-area photographers Clifford Ray Williams and Yusuf Abdullah. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are nine pictures in total.
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