– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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WASHINGTON — There was very little to separate the team who’s mostly playing out the string and the team who has rapidly ascended the Eastern Conference over the past two months not named the New York Knicks.
Then again, having Donovan Mitchell is more than enough to create enough separation to come away with victories, and he was up to his old late-game heroics once again to keep the Cleveland steam train chugging on the tracks.
Mitchell scored 14 of his 40 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Cavaliers to a 114-196 victory over the Washington Wizards inside Capital One Arena on Wednesday evening. Evan Mobley scored 22 points while making nine of his 10 shots from the field as Cleveland has now won seven straight and are a whopping 15-2 since the start of January.
Both the Cavs and Wizards had recorded the same amount of points after the first quarter (27) and at halftime (57), and the Wizards held a 90-88 lead early in the fourth before Mitchell and the Cavaliers made their move. On the ensuing possession after a Delon Wright three gave Washington that two-point lead, Mitchell converted a three-point play after a layup, the first points in 9-0 run that gave the Cavaliers the lead for good.
Mitchell and backcourt mate Darius Garland attacked the basket in the fourth, leading them to go a combined 9-for-9 from the free throw line in the final period — the difference when both teams shot well over 50 percent in the quarter and equally hit 3-of-7 from the three-point arc.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Sunday afternoon’s event, with all photos taken by DC-area photographer Clifford Ray Williams. 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 27 pictures in total.
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