Cleveland, OH – Dion Waiters and Alonzo Gee scored 20 and 17 points, respectively, as the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Washington Wizards, 95-90, on Tuesday.
Tristan Thompson recorded a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who came into the game having lost two straight and four of five, while Wayne Ellington and Shaun Livingston had 12 points apiece
John Wall had a season-high 27 points and 14 assists for the Wizards, who have lost five of their last seven games. Emeka Okafor registered 18 points and 11 rebounds and Nene had 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Cleveland had a 90-78 advantage with 4 1/2 minutes remaining, but Washington went on a 10-1 spurt to cut the deficit to 91-88 with 45 seconds remaining.
Waiters then sank a pair of free throws with 13 seconds remaining to give the Cavaliers a five-point lead.
Washington's Chris Singleton made a layup and drew a shooting foul from Waiters with seven seconds to go, but missed the free throw and Waiters grabbed the defensive rebound.
Waiters was fouled by A.J. Price and sank two more free throws to put the game out of reach.
The Wizards started strong, going on an 11-0 run over the first two minutes of the game, but the Cavaliers responded with an 11-2 surge of their own to bring them within two with 6:35 left in the first quarter.
Washington went on yet another spurt immediately afterwards, this time a 12-2 run, to go up 25-13 with 2:40 remaining in the period. Entering the second quarter, Washington led 33-20.
Thompson helped the Cavaliers come back in the second quarter, scoring 11 points that included a jump shot that gave his team a 40-39 lead with 3:35 left in the half.
It was a back-and-forth contest for the rest of the half before Gee scored the final five points of the frame to give the Cavaliers a 50-49 edge.
In the third quarter, Cleveland continued to lead but Washington remained close behind. However, the Cavaliers eventually pulled away with an 8-0 spurt in the final 3:42 of the quarter to lead 76-65.
Game Notes
Wall made all 10 of his free throw attempts in the first half ... Waiters scored 12 points in the fourth quarter ... Washington has the league's worst road record at 5-25 ... Cleveland swept the three-game season series from Washington and has won four of the last five meetings ... Wall and Cleveland's Kyrie Irving, the No. 1 picks in the 2010 and 2011 NBA Drafts, respectively, never met this season. Wall missed the first two games between the teams because of a leg injury, while Irving was out for this game due to a left shoulder sprain.
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