Final Thoughts On The Cavaliers 117-107 Win Over The Washington Wizards
It was going to be a perfect debut home for Donovan Mitchell.
And then suddenly it wasn’t.
The Cleveland Cavaliers led for more than 34 minutes after taking the lead early in the second quarter and led by as many as 15 points in the second half before it all unraveled. Cleveland even held a 103-96 advantage with 1:25 to play, but it evaporated when Will Barton scored a basket off a turnover with 26 seconds left to knot the game at 103 apiece.
The Wine and Gold had two options: throw their hands up and call it a night where the ball didn’t bounce in their favor in an early season loss or fight back.
This team has talked ad nauseam about character, grit and determination: winning the scrap, per se. Sunday night they showed it wasn’t just lip service.
The Cavs outscored the Wizards 14-4 in extra-time to take a comfortable 117-107 win in overtime that was anything but snug. Donovan Mitchell continued his prolific scoring spree to start the season, Cedi Osman continues to be a spark off the bench and Jarrett Allen was vintage Jarrett Allen.
Let’s dive in.
Red Hot Cavaliers
The Cavs have shot the ball well from deep through three games in the regular season. Coming into Sunday night’s game against the Wizards, they led the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage.
That will inevitably take a dip, but the Cavs launched 33 long balls on Sunday night and connected on 13 of them. The Cavaliers have four players shooting at or better than 40-percent from beyond the arc including Mitchell (42.3), Kevin Love (50), Cedi Osman (57) and Caris LeVert (50).
Love and Osman have been to key contributors off the bench for the Cavs through two games and have buoyed the offense with their shooting.
Last season the Cavs shot 35-percent from 3-point land, good for 16th in the NBA.
What Is The Transition Take Foul?
Sunday night gave us our first transition take foul of the regular season.
The idea Is to eliminate intentional fouls that would allow the offensive team a fast break opportunity. You get a free throw and maintain possession.
We saw a few in the preseason and witnessed our first in the regular season with 6:55 to play in the third quarter when Kristaps Porzingas fouled Isaac Okoro.
Part of the rule is that anyone on the floor can take the free-throw. So, the Cavaliers tapped Donovan Mitchell to go to the line. Mitchell connected on the freebie for the Cavs which gave them a 15-point lead, their largest of the night.
Caris Has An Off Night?
I initially started this bullet point thinking that Caris LeVert had a disappointing night. At first blush when you look at the stat-sheet, LeVert finished with a respectable 10 points but was just 4-of-14 from the field.
But he dished out four assists and routinely was tasked with manning up against the Wizard’s best player in Bradley Beal. Beal scored 26 points but just four in the 4th quarter and one in overtime. He made a key defensive play in swatting away a loose ball in overtime and was up against Beal to help force a shot clock violation late in overtime.
Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff acknowledged that they’re putting him an unusual position by asking him to fill multiple roles each evening, defending, handling the ball, scoring, and distributing.
“He’ll find his rhythm offensively,” Bickerstaff said. “What we are asking him to do is different for him. The effort that he’s putting in, the people that he’s having to chase and guard is a different thing to go out and do and then be the scorer that we know he’s capable of. We’ve asked him to have multiple personalities on the offensive end of the floor. That’s not easy for anybody.”
No. 45 For 30
This is the space where we have our nightly 100 words on Donovan. He’s been as reliable as you could ask for over the Cavs first three games and authored ANOTHER 30-point night on Sunday night against the Wizards
Mitchell was incredible. His dunk with 8:46 to play in the 4th quarter electrified the crowd and solidified his placed in Cavaliers history with three consecutive 30-point nights.
Mitchell implored the crowd for more noise as Washington took a timeout to end a 6-0 Cavs run. Realistically, it was the crowd wanting to see more from Mitchell.
They got it.
Mitchell poured in 37 points and had an even bigger and-1 with 1:43 in overtime that earned an even louder than normal ovation from the crowd. As time ticked down on the win, chants of “M-V-P” reigned down from Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
“I’m very appreciative of it. But I’ve got a lot of work to do to get there,” Mitchell sad. ‘But I’m very appreciative the love from the moment I got off the plane. And it hasn’t stopped. I’m just doing my part with the trust of my teammates and my coaches."
Steady Cedi
Cedi Osman is averaging 16 points per game and shooting 57-perent from 3-point range through three games. He’s also a plus-24 this season.
Osman contributed 16 points and three assists in the Cavs win Sunday night, but its where those points were scored that is most valuable. Cedi scored 13 points in 12 minutes in the first half, ten of which came in the first quarter.
Cedi helped spark a rally in the first quarter when the Cavs were quickly staring at a ten-point deficit to start the game. You could easily point to his energy and impact that he brings off the bench as the turning point for the Cavs early in the game.
The Cavs were down 13-3 when Osman was subbed in for Isaac Okoro with 7:40 to play in the 1st. The Wine and Gold closed out the quarter outscoring the Wizards 27-18 to pull within one heading into the second. They took the lead a minute into the frame and held it until the final seconds.
He added an and-1 in overtime to help punctuate the Cavs 10-point win.
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