Cavaliers Survive Poor Shooting Night In Win Over Wizards

The Cleveland Cavaliers only shot 29 percent from behind the arc in the victory over the Washington Wizards.

Dec 13, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (10) drives to the basket against Washington Wizards forward Justin Champagnie (9) during the second half at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Cavaliers improved their NBA best with their 115-105 win over the Washington Wizards. The Wine and Gold are now 22-4 on the season and remain one of the best teams in the league.

Despite the win, the Cavaliers didn't look like the team we've seen all season.

Cleveland has built its record and reputation on stellar shooting. It just couldn't find a rhythm on the offensive end against Washington, and the Cavs put together one of their worst shooting night of the season.

As a team, the Cavaliers shot 39 percent (36-for-91) from the floor and 30 percent (15-for-50) from behind the arc.

There were two areas that Cleveland especially excelled at to ensure a victory over Washington.

One was their ability to draw fouls and get to the free-throw line. The Cavaliers shot a season-high 40 shots from the charity stripe and knocked down 28 of them.

The other area the Cavs have been good at all season is forcing turnovers. Cleveland forced the Wizards to commit 18 miscues throughout the game, which resulted in 26 points for the Wine and Gold.

Dec 13, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Isaac Okoro (35) steals the ball from Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole (13) during the second half at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

That said, Cleveland did have a couple of players step up and perform well on the offensive end.

One of them was Isaac Okoro, who finished with 13 points, two rebounds, and two assists. Ice was the most efficient Cavalier from behind the arc, connected on three of the four threes he attempted.

Even when the shots weren't falling, the Cavaliers found ways to get the job done, and that's what great teams do.

Perhaps the slow start and poor shooting night were related to Clevealnd's four days off before today's game.

However, given their upcoming schedule, the Cavaliers can't let that become a habit. The Wine and Gold only have two games over the next seven days. Their next matchup will be against the Brooklyn Nets on Monday evening.