CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (1-0) 94, WASHINGTON WIZARDS (0-1) 84

Quicken Loans Arena
Tuesday
Radio/TV: WTAM (1100 AM)/Fox Sports Ohio

WHAT HAPPENED: The Cavs outscored the Wizards, 20-8, in the last 7 minutes of the game to blow open a close game.

The Wizards come into the game extremely banged up. Two starters are sidelined, most notably point guard John Wall (knee) and center Nene (foot). With them, they are a different team.

But no one is going to lose any sleep over their injury woes.

Wall's injury - he could be out until January - derailed the matchup against Cavs point guard Kyrie Irving. Irving missed four days of practice after having his wisdom teeth removed. He didn't look like he was bothered by any wisdom teeth, since he led all scorers with 29 points, six rebounds and three assists. He made 11 of 20 from the field, 3 of 6 from behind the arc and 4 of 5 from the foul line.

He looked like an All-Star in the making. This could be his year.

The Cavs unveiled their new backcourt of Irving and rookie Dion Waiters. The latter fired in 17 points in his NBA debut.

Both players were very good on Tuesday. But the star of the game was center Anderson Varejao, who had nine points, 23 rebounds and nine assists.

He's only the second player in NBA history and the first in Cavs history to record at least nine points, 23 rebounds and nine assists in the team's first game of the season. The other was Wilt Chamberlain on Oct. 18, 1967, when he had 11 points, 30 rebounds and nine assists.

He is the first player in the league to record at least these numbers since Charles Barkley on March 20, 1987, when he had 26 points, 25 rebounds and nine assists.


UP NEXT: The Cavs host Chicago at 7:30 p.m. Friday at The Q. 

STARTERS
SF Alonzo Gee (6-6, 219) vs. Trevor Ariza (6-8, 200)
PF Tristan Thompson (6-9, 227) vs.Trevor Booker (6-11, 240)
C Anderson Varejao (6-11, 260) vs. Emeka Okafor (6-10, 255)
SG Dion Waiters (6-4, 221) vs. Bradley Beal (6-5, 207)
PG Kyrie Irving (6-3, 191) vs. A.J. Price (6-2, 185) 
INACTIVE LIST
Cavs – F Luke Harangody, G Jeremy Pargo

Wizards - G John Wall, C Nene, F/C Kevin Seraphin
OFFICIALS
Tony Brothers, Michael Smith, Haywoode Workman

The Cavaliers will open the 2012-13 season at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Quicken Loans Arena against the Washington Wizards.

Check back to my Cavs blog on Tuesday for pregame thoughts, in addition to projected starters, projected inactive list and officials.

Then after the game, I'll update the blog with postgame analysis.

Also, during the game, I'll be live tweeting. I'm trying to get away from doing play-by-play in the tweets. I'll certainly update you on the score after each quarter, but it will be more analysis and commentary and a few snarky comments for my own enjoyment.

@BobCavsinsider

Cavaliers beat writer Bob Finnan and Sports Editor Mark Podolski preview the Cavaliers upcoming season.

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