It didn’t look like Isaac Okoro missed anytime just looking at his stat line against the Wizards despite being out for two games with a knee injury.
A player who Kenny Atkinson said is, “taken for granted,” was the difference maker for the Cavaliers.
“If you’re going to give the star of the game tonight, i’d think you give it to him," said Atkinson.
His elite performance came in a game that was expected to be a Cavaliers shutout long before the final buzzer, it turned out to be a little bit closer of a battle than Cleveland may have liked against the Washington Wizards.
The Cavaliers opened play after nearly a week off going on a 6-0 run – But the Wizards kept themselves right there through the first quarter with the game tied at 25 a piece.
Donovan Mitchell started the scoring in the second quarter with a pull-up jumper. Exactly a minute later, Sam Merrill found his first basket at the wing to put the Cavs up 31-25 and force a Wizards timeout.
Still by halftime, Washington kept themselves within only three points of Cleveland – trailing only 57-54.
It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the wine and gold were able to put a stop to the Wizards magic.
The separation really came with 41 seconds left to play when Okoro hit a triple from the corner that put the Cavs up 113-101. Just seconds later he sank two free-throws to go up 115-103 and give the Cleveland their biggest lead of the night.
The Cavaliers offense has looked top tier to start the season off, holding some of the top numbers in the league. Friday however, the Cavaliers had their worst shooting night of the season finishing below 40%.
“We’re gonna have terrible nights shooting, just happens in the NBA," said Atkinson. "Tonight it happened,”
It was evident that things weren't clicking on offense, especially the three ball. The team attempted a season-high 50 three's and only sunk 15.
Luckily for the Cavs, their defense picked up the slack in the 115-105 victory.
“That’s all we kept saying,” said Kenny Atkinson. “The shots aren’t going. Keep defending, keep defending.”
Cleveland compiled 10 steals in their defensive efforts, one of which came from Okoro, while forcing 18 turnovers for extra opportunities to try and score.
“Defense wins championships. On nights like tonight when your offense is not going, you need your defense,” said Okoro.
Ice, most notable for his defense, finished the night with 13 points, going 3-4 from beyond the arc.
Together Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, and Jarrett Allen added 65 points.
Up Next - Monday the Cavaliers go on the road to face the Brooklyn Nets (10-5). This marks their second time meeting this season, the first on November 9 in Cleveland. In a close game, the Cavs came out on top 105-100.
Tip off on December 16 in Barclays Center scheduled for 7:30.