Donovan Mitchell had 20 points and Darius Garland, Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen combined to make 24 free throws as the Cleveland Cavaliers survived a surprising challenge from the visiting Washington Wizards for a 115-105 victory Friday night.
Garland finished with a team-high 24 points, Allen 21 and LeVert 14 for the Cavaliers, who improved to 14-1 at home this season.
In falling to 1-10 on the road, the Wizards outshot the hosts 47.7 percent to 39.6 percent overall and 35.0 percent to 30.0 percent on 3-pointers. But the visitors watched the Cavaliers get to the foul line 40 times, from where they outscored the Wizards 28-9.
LeVert did most of his scoring on free throws as he made 8-of-12 attempts, while Garland went 9 of 10 and Allen 7 of 10.
Washington was awarded just 11 foul shots, making nine.
The 20-point game was the 17th of the season for Mitchell, who had 30 in an earlier win at Washington. He did most of his scoring from beyond the 3-point arc, hitting 4-of-11 attempts.
Allen also found time for a game-high 11 rebounds for the Cavaliers, while Garland compiled a game-high eight assists.
Isaac Okoro (13 points) and Georges Niang (10) made it six Cavaliers in double figures.
The Wizards, who never trailed by more than 12, hung within 94-88 after a Johnny Davis dunk with 8:52 to go. But Washington went the next 2:04 without a point, allowing the Cavaliers to slowly regain another double-digit lead en route to an uneventful finish.
Bilal Coulibaly paced Washington with a career-high-tying 27 points to go with six rebounds, five assists and two blocks.
Jordan Poole chipped in with 17 points, a team-high six assists and three steals, Justin Champagnie pulled a team-high eight rebounds to complement 16 points and Alexandre Sarr added 14 points.
–Field Level Media