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Irving guides Cavs over Wizards

Feb 8, 2014 - 5:35 AM Washington, DC (SportsNetwork.com) - Kyrie Irving had 23 points and tied a career-high with 12 assists to help the Cleveland Cavaliers snap a six-game losing streak with a 115-113 win over the Washington Wizards on Friday night.

Dion Waiters scored 24 points off the bench on 11-of-18 shooting, C.J. Miles added 18 points and Tristan Thompson recorded 10 points with eight rebounds for the Cavs, who have won four straight in the nation's capital.

"To have 12 assists (and) getting to the free throw line 13 times was a phenomenal game," Cavs coach Mike Brown said of Irving's performance. "He helped make his teammates better tonight and that was fun to see."

John Wall had a game-high 32 points with 10 assists to lead Washington, which has lost two straight on the heels of beating two of the Western Conference's top teams in Oklahoma City and Portland.

Marcin Gortat deposited 19 points with eight rebounds, while Martell Webster and Trevor Ariza notched 18 and 14 points, respectively, in the setback.

"We can get all caught up in .500 and I told you guys what that meant. Nothing," Wizards coach Randy Wittman admitted. "Good teams don't lose basketball games like this 9, 10, 11 times halfway through a season."

Both teams came out hot to start the game, with Washington shooting 17-of-26 (65.4 percent) - including 4-for-4 from 3-point range - in the first quarter to take a 38-32 lead into the second.

Cleveland did nearly as well, making 14-of-23 (60.9 percent) shot attempts.

Miles had 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting to lead all scorers, while Ariza was 4-of-4 from the field, good for nine points.

Irving found Miles at the 1:16 mark of the second quarter for his 10th assist and completed the first half double-double with a pair of free throws with 46.4 seconds left.

The Cavs continued their hot shooting as they made 59.5 percent from the field in the opening 24 minutes to take a 67-63 lead into the locker room.

Irving dished his 12th assist of the night early in the third and made three free throws after Wall fouled him shooting a trey to extend Cleveland's advantage to 80-72 with 6:45 remaining.

Waiters scored seven points to pick up the slack when Irving exited and Cleveland led 93-85 heading into the fourth.

Cleveland scored the first eight points of the fourth as Alonzo Gee made a driving layup with just over nine minutes left to stretch the lead to 101-87.

Wall then scored five straight for Washington with under two minutes left to cut the deficit to six, and he would trim it to four with 26.6 seconds left after a pair of free throws.

The Cavs were 6-of-8 from the line in the closing seconds to secure victory, despite Webster knocking down two 3s to close the gap to its final margin.

Game Notes

Cleveland finished 40-of-77 (51.9 percent) from the field ... Washington made 43-of-85 (50.6 percent) attempts ... Cleveland outrebounded the Wizards 45-34 ... Gee finished with 11 points in the win ... Nene had 13 points and eight boards in defeat ... The Cavs committed 18 turnovers and Washington finished with 13.