The early season has not been kind to the Washington Wizards. Heading into Tuesday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers -- who were undefeated at home -- they were 6-8 and had lost four straight games. Something jolted the Wizards out of their funk, though: John Wall came to play.
2015 NBA scores: John Wall, Wizards wake from early nightmare to throttle Cavaliers
Plus the 76ers finally won, the Magic are growing up and the Pelicans may be getting healthy, but they’re still in trouble.
Wall was the best player on the court in a dominant, 97-85 Wizards win. He was firing on all cylinders against a stagnant Cavaliers team that didn’t come ready to play.
Wall had to return to form. Heading into Tuesday’s game, he was averaging 16.1 points and 7.6 assists per game on 39 percent shooting from the field and 28.8 percent from deep -- numbers that were all down from last two seasons. Wall went off against the Cavaliers, owning the court en route to 35 points, 10 assists and five steals. He shot 14-of-24 from the field and 3-of-5 from deep.
LeBron James had 24 points, 13 rebounds and four assists for the Cavaliers, but Cleveland was never in it.
The Wizards jumped out on the Cavaliers from the opening tip, scoring the first 10 points of the game. The Cavaliers looked stagnant and disinterested. With 5:02 left in the second quarter they were whistled for an 8-second violation for walking the ball up the court.
Wall and the Wizards, on the other hand, were in attack mode.
The Wizards even tried a new lineup -- their own version of the Warriors' cheat code. With Nene out due to injury, the Wizards went small with Otto Porter at power forward and Jared Dudley at center. It was effective against the Cavaliers, who are pretty familiar with the Warriors' version of the lineup.
The Wizards didn’t solve all of their early-season struggles with one win over a bored Cavaliers team, but it was a start. John Wall is going to need to continue to play hero ball. If he can, the Wizards will be climbing the Eastern Conference ranks in no time.
3 things we learned
There is a basketball team in Philadelphia, and they do have the ability to win a game.
The Philadelphia 76ers did it. They finally won a game. On the night Kobe Bryant played his final game in his hometown, the 76ers beat the Lakers, 103-91, to end a 28-game skid that dated back to last season. It wasn't a pretty game, but Robert Covington's scoring and Jerami Grant's hustle was enough to overcome what has usually been the 76ers' unraveling: the fourth quarter. Instead of folding against the Lakers, however, the 76ers outscored them by seven in the final quarter (and 20 in the second half). Bryant kicked off his farewell tour in Philly with a 20-point night, but he was only 7-of-26 from the field. Next up, the 76ers get the Knicks on Wednesday. Is a new losing streak on the horizon?
The youth movement in Orlando is a tad more advanced than the youth movement in Minnesota.
A young Orlando Magic team beat a young Minnesota Timberwolves team, 96-93, on Tuesday. Both teams are in the playoff hunt in their perspective conferences, but it was Orlando who played with the most composure down the stretch -- even if just barely.
There wasn't a lack of effort. Both the Magic and Timberwolves played hard, but the play was sloppy. Both teams played a lot of isolation and turned the ball over often. But it was youngster Elfrid Payton who played the most like a veteran. The second-year player had the biggest bucket of the night, slicing through the Timberwolves defense for a finger roll to give the Magic a four-point lead with 35 seconds to play -- a lead they wouldn't give up. The Timberwolves did have chance to tie the game with three seconds to play, but got up an ugly look for Wiggins from deep that Aaron Gordon blocked. Payton had 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists and Nikola Vucevic had 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Magic. Wiggins had 27 points for the Timberwolves.
The New Orleans Pelicans are getting healthy, but they're still in trouble.
Tyreke Evans had 20 points, 10 assists and five rebounds in his first game back from injury this season, but the Memphis Grizzlies beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 113-104, on Tuesday. The Pelicans had to be thrilled to get their point guard back, but Evans was the only one who came to play. Anthony Davis put up an impressive stat line of 17 points, 14 rebounds and nine blocks, but he was only 4-of-15 from the floor. On top of that, Davis and the Pelicans' frontcourt defense were exposed by Marc Gasol, who put up a career-high 38 points and added 13 rebounds, six assists and four blocks. Gasol got to the free throw line 16 times -- he made all 16 -- and the Grizzlies scored 52 points in the paint. The Pelicans are getting everyone back, now they need to execute.
Play of the night
(h/t Justin Russo)
D'Angelo Russell. Wow. This pass doesn't even make sense. It seems like any old pass from the top of the key -- and then you see it from behind the hoop. No one was ready for that pass. You can't blame Julius Randle for not finishing, he didn't know he was getting the ball until it was already in his hands.
5 Fun things
Scores
76ers 103, Lakers 91 (Liberty Ballers recap | Silver Screen and Roll recap)
Wizards 97, Cavaliers 85 (Bullets Forever recap | Fear the Sword recap)
Nets 94, Suns 91 (Nets Daily recap | Bright Side of the Sun recap)
Magic 96, Timberwolves 93 (Orlando Pinstriped Post recap | Canis Hoopus recap)
Grizzlies 113, Pelicans 104 (Grizzly Bear Blues recap | The Bird Writes recap)
Mavericks 115, Blazers 112 OT (Mavs Moneyball recap | Blazers' Edge recap)
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