Three Takeaways from Cleveland Cavaliers 148-114 win over Washington Wizards

The Cleveland Cavaliers trounced the Washington Wizards 148-114.

They left no stone unturned, dominating all the key areas of the game.

Let’s see if there’s anything we can learn from this total demolition.

Darius Garland makes all the difference

It turns out All-Star point guards are important. Who would have thought?

The Cavs have looked like a brand new team since Darius Garland made his debut on Wednesday. His advantage creation has resulted in dozens of defensive breakdowns, giving Cleveland’s offense the daylight it wasn’t previously seeing.

Garland’s impact was obvious tonight. He scored 20 points and threw 8 assists in just 28 minutes of playing time. The Wizards had no answer for him.

Sam Merrill is no joke

The Cavaliers' bench had a void that would need to be filled entering this season. Not only because of injuries to multiple starters, but also because Ty Jerome had left in free agency. This naturally put Sam Merrill in a position to start the season strong. He’s delivered on that expectation.

Merrill is scorching his way to the best season of his career. He entered tonight’s game averaging a career-high 16.6 points and poured on another 14 points in just 18 minutes. He’s on a blistering pace from deep, knocking down 4-5 three-point attempts against the Wizards. At this rate, he’ll set a new franchise record for single-season three-pointers.

We can expect some of Merrill’s production to decrease as the Cavs get healthier and he (presumably) cools down a bit. Even then, his value as an off-ball shooter who has exceeded expectations defensively will keep him in the rotation. Don’t sleep on Merrill.

NBA Cup dreams are still alive

Losing a game in the group stage is almost certainly a death sentence. The Cavs have learned this the hard way in each of the last three seasons. But there is a way for teams to climb out of the abyss and advance to the knockout round even if they lost a game in the group stage. It only requires the Cavs to play like they just did… two more times.

There are two paths for Cleveland to save their bid to the NBA Cup. They need to beat Atlanta and Indiana in their final two group games – then hope the Toronto Raptors lose at least two games. Or, they need to build a point differential large enough to ensure they can be the wild card in the East. Either way, the Cavs need to win out.

This win in Washington was a good start. A 34-point win puts the Cavs' point differential at +23. That’s the best in the East as of writing.

Does any of this matter? Probably not. I don’t think anyone will be overly upset if the Cavs miss the NBA Cup. But for anyone who is keeping track, this is where we currently stand.