Cavs News: Back to Hogwarts, Okoro lock-up, Boston trade

One of the most anticipated video games of the year is set to be released this Friday. “Hogwarts Legacy” is set in the world of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter, and allows players to return to the magic school from the famous books and movies. The Cleveland Cavaliers should buy copies for the Washington Wizards roster, because after last night they need to go back to Hogwarts and brush up on being wizards.

The Cavs absolutely blasted Washington last night, dominating the entire game and winning by 23 points in the 114-91 victory. All five Cleveland starters scored in double figures in the first half, and they led by 20 at halftime and 24 after three quarters, with their largest lead being 28. Their defense absolutely smothered the Wizards, who couldn’t find space inside and were ice cold from deep, shooting just 6-for-28 from deep.

Jarrett Allen shot 10-for-13 en route to 23 points, and Darius Garland matched him with 23 of his own, while Donovan Mitchell had 21. The Cavs have struggled on the road at times this season, but not this week; they dropped the Pacers by 19 points on Sunday and the Wizards by 23 on Monday. It was a complete performance from a team that is catching its momentum and looking as dangerous as it has all season.

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Isaac Okoro has looked like a new player since being elevated back into the starting lineup. He is shooting better than he ever has, but even more impressive has been his defense. He has locked up opposing lead guards again and again, as detailed by Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor in a deep dive on the young wing ($$). Here is a snapshot from Carter Rodriguez on Twitter. Okoro is locking up players like Ja Morant, Damian Lillard, Trae Young and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Speaking of Fedor, he recently reported that the Cavaliers had called the Boston Celtics and enquired about the availability of a player. Here on the website we built out a potential trade for the young forward in our latest “grade the trade” piece. Yesterday, Gage Morgan wrote an entry in the series with a deal for Portland’s Josh Hart.

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The Golden State Warriors will be playing without Stephen Curry for at least a few weeks, which means someone else will need to step up if they are going to hold serve in a crowded Western Conference. Klay Thompson raised his hand last night, hitting 12 3-pointers and scoring 42 points in a rout of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

That same Thunder team will try to recover enough to hold LeBron James under 36 points tonight, as that is all The King needs to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the all-time scoring record. Former NBA shooter and current commentator and podcaster JJ Redick spoke to some of the (ridiculous) narratives that are applied to LeBron to ensure he isn’t given his full due:

https://twitter.com/JamesEdrick3/status/1622719799569653767

Back in the Eastern Conference, the Milwaukee Bucks won their eighth-straight game as they push the Boston Celtics for the top of the standings. Behind them, the Brooklyn Nets lost to the LA Clippers despite Cam Thomas’ career-best 47 points, which allowed the Cavs to move into fourth place in the standings.

Coming up: The Cavaliers return home to host the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night.