Washington Wizards defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 96-85; Take the winning streak to 5 – NBA Recap
John Wall finally got it going at the end of the season to help the Washington Wizards continue on in their longest winning streak since 2007. On Wednesday night, the Wizards extending it to 5 as they defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 96-85 here at the Quicken Loans Arena.
Wall had an impressive tally of 21 points and 13 assists on the night. He went on an impressive run in the third quarter , notching up 12 points and four steals, to help the Wizards stretch out a 14 point lead before going into the fourth.
Four other players for Washington made sizable contributions in the game with Nene and Kevin Seraphin getting 12 each. While the Singletons combined together to contribute 20 points.
D.J. Kennedy was the leading scorer for the Cavs. The reserve signed off with 12 points in the game. Antawn Jamison was the only other player for Cleveland in double scoring figures with 10 points. The rest of the roster made small but valid contributions in the game.
Washington, behind Wall`s quick paced offense, did their damage in transition outscoring the hosts 20-10. The Wizards were also helped by their ability to clean up the offensive glass, Jan Vesely being the key contributor in that department, accounting for 7 of Washington`s 20 offensive rebounds in the game.
In the first quarter, there was not much to separate the two teams as both teams were finding it very easy to convert possession into baskets. At the 2:45 mark of the period, Washington, were ahead by 1 point.
For the remaining first quarter however, Cleveland, were able to put together a 7-0 to lead with a score line of 27-21.
In the early stages of the second quarter, the action went end to end, however the Wizards were able to get their noses back into the game, rallying back courtesy of a 14-9 run.
In the remaining time of the first half, the lead changed hands four times but eventually the Wizards were able to maintain some distance from their host, closing the half with a score of 49-45.
A similar script was followed in the third quarter with both sides getting an equal share of the action. However that did not make much difference to the eventual score line, Wizards holding an edge in that aspect as they extended their advantage to double figures.
Wall was the stand out player in that span as he accounted for 24 of Washington`s 28 points - through scoring, assists and steals - in that third quarter to help them end the quarter with a score of 77-63.
Cleveland, were able to outscore the Wizards 22-19 in the fourth quarter however that did not make much of a difference as the Washington advantage did not get below double figures. In the end Wizards were able to take this one by a margin of 11 points.
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