Cavs To Host Wizards, Visit Nets After Missing NBA Cup Knockout Round

CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers just pummeled the Washington Wizards, and what do you know, they will get an extra game against that very opponent.

After failing to qualify for the NBA Cup Knockout Round, the Cavs were waiting on the league to add a couple regular-season games to the schedule.

Those games have been added and they are as follows: 

• Dec. 13: At home against the Wizards.
• Dec. 16: On the road against the Brooklyn Nets.

In Tuesday’s 118-87 win over Washington, Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley led the charge, each scoring 19 points, with Mobley adding 10 rebounds in his second double-double of the season.

The Cavaliers, now 19-3 and sporting the best record in the NBA, dominated from start to finish in a game that was never really in doubt.

It wasn’t just the starters doing the damage, though. Sam Merrill and Georges Niang both provided a spark off the bench, contributing 14 points each.

With the win, the Cavs continued their impressive home stretch, improving to 12-1 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

This 31-point rout marked Cleveland’s largest victory margin of the season, and they’ve shown they can flex their muscle when needed.

The only real concern for Cleveland came when point guard Darius Garland left the game in the third quarter after taking an inadvertent elbow from Wizards center Jonas Valanciunas.

Garland, who had scored 12 points before exiting, was shaken up but is expected to avoid any serious injury, according to head coach Kenny Atkinson (and Garland himself).

As for Washington, they got 13 points apiece from Valanciunas, Jordan Poole, and rookie Bub Carrington, but it was clear they were outmatched. Their misery has been extended now to 15 straight defeats.

Valanciunas added 11 rebounds in 19 minutes, but his efforts weren’t nearly enough to lift the Wizards in their final NBA Cup game of the season.

For Cleveland, it’s back to business as usual — dominating opponents, with the Cavaliers continuing to look every bit like a contender in the Eastern Conference.