CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers rallied from a double-digit deficit in the second half Wednesday night, Oct. 28, to beat the Washington Wizards 121-111 at Rocket Arena, spoiling the NBA debut of No. 1 overall draft pick AJ Dybantsa and extending Cleveland’s winning streak to three games. Evan Mobley led the Cavaliers with 24 points, according to the Associated Press report carried by theScore, and Peyton Watson added 22 as Cleveland erased a 69-59 halftime deficit in front of its home crowd.
Dybantsa, a 6-foot-9 forward from BYU, had missed Washington’s first four games after spraining his left ankle on Oct. 16 in the preseason finale against New Orleans, the Akron Beacon Journal reported. He started in Cleveland and led the Wizards with a team-high 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting in 26 minutes, scoring nine points in the first quarter alone. According to the Associated Press, citing Sportradar, those nine points were the most in a first quarter by a Wizards rookie making his debut since at least the 1996-97 season.
Washington controlled much of the night early, building a lead as large as 13 points. An alley-oop from Kyshawn George to Dybantsa pushed the margin to 76-63 early in the third quarter, according to the Associated Press, before Cleveland began its comeback. The Cavaliers outscored the Wizards 33-23 in the third quarter and 29-19 in the fourth, the Beacon Journal reported, tying the game at 92-92 by the end of the third.
Mobley’s layup with 11:19 remaining in the fourth quarter gave Cleveland a 94-92 edge and its first lead since late in the first quarter, according to the Associated Press. Washington briefly moved back in front, 105-104, but the Cavaliers answered with nine straight points to take control for good. Mobley finished with a career-high five 3-pointers, including 10 points in the fourth quarter, and he and center Jarrett Allen each grabbed 12 rebounds, the Beacon Journal and the Associated Press reported.
Donovan Mitchell added 19 points for Cleveland, and rookie guard Meleek Thomas, the Cavaliers’ second-round pick in the 2026 draft, scored 10 points off the bench, according to the Beacon Journal. Thomas had impressed in the previous game, scoring 16 points in his regular-season debut in a 127-125 overtime win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Watson, acquired from Denver during the offseason, also had six rebounds in 28 minutes, according to the Associated Press.
For Washington, Anthony Davis and Alex Sarr each scored 18 points and Bilal Coulibaly added 17, according to the Associated Press. George finished with 11 assists for the Wizards, who fell to 2-3. The loss was Washington’s 17th straight against Cleveland — the longest active streak of its kind in the league, according to the Associated Press — while the Cavaliers improved to 3-1.
The Cavaliers have little time to rest. Cleveland plays the second game of a back-to-back on Thursday night, Oct. 29, at the Atlanta Hawks, with tipoff moved to 8 p.m., according to the Associated Press and the Beacon Journal. The Wizards return home to host Charlotte on Friday night. Cleveland and Washington are scheduled to meet twice more this season, on Dec. 23 in Washington and Dec. 27 back at Rocket Arena, the Beacon Journal reported.
Photo: Jon Ridinger, CC BY