The Washington Wizards defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers, 119-95, at Capitol One Arena on Wednesday evening.

The Wizards (5-9) came into the contest showing some signs of life after a dreadful start, as they'd notched consecutive wins against the Heat and Magic in their prior two games. However, Cavaliers (2-12) were feeling good in their own right, having surprised the Charlotte Hornets by a 113-89 margin Tuesday. The possibility for a letdown therefore existed, and the first quarter indicated that's exactly what was in the cards. Washington forged a 41-29 lead after 12 minutes that they'd expanded to 73-52 by halftime. That essentially allowed the home squad to tread water in the second half and still finish with a comfortable victory. Although the Wizards were guilty of 17 turnovers on the night, they forced 23 from the Cleveland while also holding them to a 19.0 percent success rate from three-point range.

Rookie Collin Sexton paced the Cavaliers with 24 points and added three rebounds and two assists. David Nwaba followed with 11 points off the bench, which he partly supplemented with seven rebounds. Larry Nance, Jr. and Rodney Hood generated matching 10-point tallies on the starting five. Nance also had six rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocks, while Hood had a pair of rebounds and assists each. Andrew Harrison supplied 10 points on the second unit as well, while Tristan Thompson registered nine points, eight boards, two assists, two steals and one block.

Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 20 points while also recording three rebounds, three assists and three steals. Otto Porter, Jr. provided 15 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Austin Rivers poured in 12 points off the bench. Markieff Morris and Dwight Howard had 11 and 10 points, respectively, with Howard also grabbing seven boards. John Wall mustered eight points, nine assists, five rebounds, two steals and one block in just 21 minutes.

The Cavaliers are off until next Monday, when they'll take on the Detroit Pistons in Motown. The Wizards remain home and await a visit from the Brooklyn Nets on Friday evening.