CLEVELAND - The Cavaliers didn’t coast through Wednesday night. They got jolted.
After a sluggish start against Washington, Kenny Atkinson had seen enough by halftime and delivered a blunt message to his team. Cleveland answered after the break and pulled away for a 121-111 win at Rocket Arena, erasing a 10-point deficit to grab its third straight victory.
Evan Mobley paced the Cavs with 24 points, Peyton Watson chipped in 22 and Donovan Mitchell finished with 19 as Cleveland kept building momentum after its rough opening-night collapse at Philadelphia.
“We came out like it was the old Wizards,” Atkinson said. “I told the guys at halftime, ‘This is different.’ So I’m glad we turned it around and treated them with the proper respect.”
Washington looked plenty different, too, with No. 1 overall draft pick AJ Dybantsa making his NBA debut. He missed the Wizards’ first four games with a sprained ankle, then came off the bench and scored 19 points in 26 minutes. Nine of those points came in the first quarter, the most by a Wizards rookie in his debut since at least 1996-97, according to Sportradar.
The Cavaliers adjusted after halftime, with Mobley steering the response and Watson supplying the kind of activity Atkinson has already come to value. Atkinson said Watson was “all over the place,” and he meant it as praise.
Mobley said afterward that the Cavaliers felt connected even when the game got uncomfortable.
“I just feel like we’re playing as a team,” Mobley said.
That poise mattered after Cleveland fell behind by double digits, which Mobley suggested had been a focal point.
Washington got 18 points each from Anthony Davis and Alex Sarr, while Bilal Coulibaly scored 17 and Kyshawn George finished with 11 assists.
Cleveland is now 3-1 after losing its opener to the 76ers in a game where it gave away a 29-point lead. The Cavs have recovered with three wins in a row, and none of them has come easy.
They’re winning, though, and Wednesday offered another look at a team figuring itself out in real time.
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Peyton Watson Is Giving The Cavs Something They May Really Need
Amid the early-season chaos around the league, Peyton Watson has given Cleveland a different kind of lift in a recent overtime win, the sort that tends to matter more when games tighten and possessions get ugly. The Cavaliers have plenty of scorers they can lean on, but Watsons value showed up in the areas that dont always make the highlight reel, with his activity helping swing momentum on both ends while the team keeps sorting out its rotation.
The offense still has a bit of a project attached to it, though, and that is the piece Cleveland will keep watching as the sample grows. Watsons size and defensive energy are already giving the Cavaliers something they can build on, but the next question is whether his shot becomes reliable enough to make him more than a situational weapon as the season moves along. [Read more 🡒]
Cavaliers Win Still Exposed A Frustrating Problem Mobley And Allen Haven't Fixed
The Cavaliers got the overtime win they needed against Minnesota, but the box score still pointed to a nagging problem that has followed them at times this season. Even with Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen anchoring the front line, Cleveland was hurt on the defensive glass, and the Wolves extra chances kept possessions alive in a way that made the game far harder than it should have been.
For a team built to defend at a high level, the issue goes beyond two big men doing their job. Rebounding on the defensive end has to be a full-team task, with guards and wings helping close possessions before they turn into second opportunities, and this one offered another reminder that the Cavaliers still have work to do there if they want to make wins look cleaner. [Read more 🡒]
Cavs Win Just Sparked An Officiating Debate Fans Will Be Talking About
The Cavaliers overtime win over the Timberwolves is already the kind of result that gets replayed, but the NBAs Last Two Minute Report added another layer to the discussion. The league identified two officiating mistakes that worked in Clevelands favor, while also backing several other calls from the final stretch, including the non-flagrant ruling on Donovan Mitchell and a foul on Jaden McDaniels.
What stood out most was how thin the margins were late, when every whistle can reshape a games finish. The report said a key call should have gone the other way on the final possession of regulation, and it also marked an overtime foul involving Mitchell and LaMelo Ball as incorrect because the contact was deemed incidental, leaving plenty for fans to debate even after the result is in the books. [Read more 🡒]