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Beal helps Wizards hold off Cavaliers

Nov 21, 2013 - 6:31 AM Cleveland, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - Bradley Beal poured in 26 points to go with seven rebounds and eight assists as the Washington Wizards held off the Cleveland Cavaliers, 98-91, on Wednesday.

Nene added 24 points, eight boards and six assists and John Wall scored 15 points and handed out nine helpers for the Wizards, who have won two straight on the heels of a four-game slide.

Kyrie Irving poured in 28 points on 9-of-14 shooting while Jarrett Jack and Anderson Varejao added 14 points apiece off the bench for the Cavaliers, losers in four of their last five games.

"We didn't compete. We had one guy that competed the entire time he was on the floor. That's Matthew Dellavedova," Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown said. "I've got to find guys that are going to give it to me. It's as simple as that. We didn't play hard."

Dellavedova finished with nine points on 3-of-6 shooting from 3-point range.

Washington took a 27-point lead following a Wall jumper at the 5:11 mark of the third quarter, but saw that spread dwindle to just four points with just over a minute left in the game.

The Cavs had the lead down to 21 points by the end of the third before a pair of Irving free throws made it single digits with 3 1/2 to play.

In the last meeting between these clubs on Saturday, Irving scored 18 points over the final 17 minutes, and the Cavs' young star put the team on his back down the stretch once again.

Irving was 6-for-7 from the floor and netted 18 points in the fourth, and dished out an incredible no look pass to Varejao at the basket that made it a 90-86 game with 1:40 left.

This time, however, Irving's resilient effort wasn't enough as the Wizards outscored the Cavs 8-3 the rest of the way.

"The easiest thing to do is relax when you're up by 27 points. They made us pay for that, but we nipped it in the bud and took care of business. This is another step for us in the maturation process," said Wizards forward Martell Webster, who finished with 15 points.

Washington raced out to 30-19 lead after the first period and took a 56-38 lead into the break.

Game Notes

Cleveland forward Anthony Bennett, who was selected with the first pick in this year's draft, played just six minutes. It was his first appearance in three games ... Washington outscored the Cavs 44-34 in the paint.