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Irving, Cavs snap skid against Wizards

Nov 17, 2013 - 4:58 AM Washington, DC (SportsNetwork.com) - Kyrie Irving tied a career-high with 41 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers held off the Washington Wizards, 103-96, in overtime.

Irving, who scored 18 of his points in the fourth quarter and overtime, was 14-for-28 from the field with four rebounds and five assists.

Tristan Thompson added 15 points and 12 rebounds and Jarrett Jack added 13 points off the bench for the Cavaliers, who had dropped five of their last six games entering the contest.

"We kind of made it up on the fly, that is how we played tonight. It was tough at first, but Kyrie stayed with it. All of our guys stayed with it, but Kyrie did a great job tonight," said Cavs head coach Mike Brown.

Bradley Beal scored 28 points, Nene added 24 and Marcin Gortat finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Wizards, losers in four straight.

John Wall dished out 12 assists, but finished with just nine points on 3-of-13 shooting.

The Cavs trailed by six, 75-69, following a Beal layup 2 1/2 minutes into the final frame, but Irving and Cavs caught fire and got right back into the game.

After Earl Clark's triple from the left wing cut the Cleveland deficit in half, Irving tied the game with a three-point play.

The teams traded makes from there before a Nene hook shot put the Wizards in front 84-80 with 4 1/2 minutes remaining.

A pair of Jack free throws made it a two-point game, but Beal canned a trey with just over three minutes to play to give Washington an 87-82 lead.

Matthew Dellavedova then knocked down a floater and an Irving jumper from the left baseline pulled the Cavs within 87-86 with two minutes left.

Thompson cleaned up a Dellavedova miss and slammed it home to give the Cavs an 88-87 lead.

With the Wizards trailing 90-89 with 24 seconds left, Nene was fouled as he tried to dunk on Anderson Varejao.

Nene made the first, but missed the second free throw and neither team got a clean look before the end of regulation.

Irving took over in the bonus period, scoring the Cavs' first seven points for a 97-92 edge.

After the teams traded buckets, Irving extended Cleveland's lead to seven points, 101-94, with his pull up jumper from the base line, and the Cavs cruised from there for the win.

"He makes tough shots, and he got into a rhythm early. Once a guy who is a good shooter gets into a rhythm it is very had to stop him," Wall said of Irving.

Washington led 25-18 after the first quarter and took a 49-44 lead into the break. The Wizards led 69-64 after a back-and-forth third.

Game Notes

The Cavs were 21-for-22 from the free throw line (95.5 percent) ... Clark was 3-for-4 from 3-point range ... First overall pick Anthony Bennett did not play ... Washington outscored Cleveland 50-26 in the paint ... Nene set a season- high with 24 points.