Jarrett Allen had 22 points and 12 rebounds to help the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers rally past the Washington Wizards 114-105 on Sunday.
Washington surrendered a six-point lead in the fourth quarter in dropping its 11th straight game. Cleveland had lost its last two.
Evan Mobley scored 21 points for the Cavaliers, who swept the four-game season series, and Caris LeVert added 18 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. Donovan Mitchell scored 16 points in his return after missing the past two games due to illness.
Jordan Poole led all scorers with 31 points on 11-of-21 shooting off the bench for the Wizards, and Kyle Kuzma added 27.
Washington’s Bilal Coulibaly left after taking a hard fall in the first quarter. The Wizards were already without Deni Avdija (left heel contusion) and Corey Kispert (illness).
Washington trailed 88-80 early in the fourth quarter when Landry Shamet hit a 3-pointer. Poole then took over, scoring 11 straight points — including three treys — in a 14-0 run that gave Washington a six-point lead with 9:17 left to play.
Darius Garland hit a pair of 3-pointers to tie it at 94, and Mitchell’s trey gave Cleveland a 97-95 lead. LeVert hit a 3-pointer and then followed with a layup after a Wizards turnover and the lead was 104-97 with 3:57 remaining.
Mobley’s put-back made it 108-98, but Washington pulled within 110-103 on Marvin Bagley III’s layup at the 1:17 mark. Shamet’s steal and layup made it 110-105 with 27.6 seconds to play, but Garland hit two free throws before a Wizards miss.
Kuzma scored nine straight Washington points midway through the first quarter, and when Poole scored five in a row, the Wizards led 21-12 at the 5:33 mark.
Johnny Davis’ fadeaway jumper put the Wizards up 40-30 with 9:25 left in the first half, but Isaac Okoro’s 3-pointer capped a quick 7-0 Cleveland run. After Georges Niang’s trey tied the score at 42, the teams traded the lead over the final six minutes before Cleveland took a one-point edge into halftime.
–Field Level Media
