(AP) — Jarrett Allen had 22 points and 12 rebounds, Caris LeVert added 18 points and 12 boards, and the Cleveland Cavaliers avoided their first three-game skid since December with a 114-105 victory over the Washington Wizards on Sunday night.
Evan Mobley added 21 points and Donovan Mitchell had 16 points in his return after missing the first two games following the All-Star break with an illness.
“I thought we defended well when we needed to,” Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “We just need to be better. I don’t think we played to our standard tonight. I expected more fire from our group after losing two games in a row and having the opportunity to play another one."
Darius Garland scored eight of his 15 points during a late 22-4 run to help Cleveland secure a season sweep of Washington. Garland, who came in shooting a career-worst 33.9% beyond the arc, hit a pair of critical 3-pointers.
“It's huge for him. He needed to see a few go in,” Bickerstaff said. “It was good for him to find his mark, especially late when the pressure was on.”
The Cavs are second in the Eastern Conference, one game ahead of Milwaukee.
Jordan Poole scored a season-high 31 points, and Kyle Kuzma added 27 for the Wizards, who extended their season-worst losing streak to 11 games and fell to 2-12 under interim coach Brian Keefe.
Wizards starter Bilal Coulibaly, the seventh overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft, played only six minutes and left with a bruised right pelvis following an awkward fall on an attempted first-quarter dunk. Corey Kispert sat out with an illness.
“Credit to our guys to keep battling and showing the resilience that we want to see out of them,” Keefe said. “I thought Jordan and Kyle were really stepping up, pushing us.”
After Poole scored 11 points — and hit three 3-pointers — during a 14-0 run that gave the Wizards a 94-88 lead, the Cavs responded with their decisive run.
Garland made two 3s to pull the game even, Mitchell hit a 3 from LeVert's feed to put Cleveland in front for good, and by the time Mobley hit a putback and Garland followed with a layup, Cleveland had built a 110-98 advantage.
Mitchell was unhappy the run was even needed against the NBA's second-worst team.
“We’ve got a lot of things we’ve got to clean up, especially the past three games,” Mitchell said. “The way we started this game was terrible, to be honest with you. And that’s on us (starting) five.”
UP NEXT
Cavaliers: Host Dallas on Tuesday night.
Wizards: Host Golden State on Tuesday night.
