CLEVELAND -- The Washington Wizards lost Nene to a knee injury, and then won the game with a strong effort on defence. Chicago White Sox Pro Shop . John Wall scored 21 points, Bradley Beal had 17 and the Wizards beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 96-83 on Sunday night. Washington had a 66-63 lead midway through the third quarter when Nene departed with a sprained left knee. The Wizards then held the Cavaliers to 11 fourth-quarter points to return to .500 at 28-28 on the season. They also strengthened their hold on the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference standings. "Were a team right now thats just trying to play the right way and get on a roll," Wall said. Nene had eight points, four rebounds and four assists in 21 minutes. He was coming off one of his best games with the Wizards, when he had a career-high 30 points in Saturdays win over New Orleans, including the game-winning dunk with less than a second left. Coach Randy Wittman said Nene banged knees with Spencer Hawes and will get an MRI on Monday. Luol Deng led Cleveland with 17 points and the injury-riddled Cavaliers lost for the second straight time after winning six in a row. The Cavaliers played without centre Anderson Varejao (sore back) and guards Dion Waiters (hyperextended left knee) and C.J. Miles (sprained left ankle). While the Wizards are in good shape to snag a playoff spot in the weak Eastern Conference, the Cavaliers are five games out of the final post-season slot. Kyrie Irving, who scored 15 points, admitted that hes looking at the standings. "You have no choice but to pay attention to it," he said. "We want to accomplish something, but it starts with every single game. Time is of the essence right now." Washington led 78-72 after three quarters, and then grabbed control in the fourth. Two baskets by Kevin Seraphin, who replaced Nene, and five points by Beal helped the Wizards build a double-digit lead before Trevor Arizas 3-pointer with a little over a minute left made it 96-81. "We felt bad when he got hurt, but during the game, you have to keep focused the whole way, which we did," Seraphin said. The Cavaliers shot 49 per cent in the first half, but were 4 of 19 from the field in the fourth quarter. "The ball just seemed to stick in one area," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. "It was almost like we played in an elevator at times. It wasnt crisp like it was in the first half." Ariza scored 15 points and Marcin Gortat had 13 points and 13 rebounds. Hawes, playing his second game since being acquired from Philadelphia on Thursday, had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Cleveland. The Wizards used a 12-0 run midway through the first quarter to go ahead for good. Cleveland got within one point several times in the third quarter but never pulled even. The game featured two of the top young point guards in the league in Irving and Wall. Irving was the MVP of the All-Star game and Wall won the dunk contest. Wall ended the first half with a dunk and two 3-pointers in the final 1:21. He banked in a 30-footer to beat the halftime buzzer, giving Washington a 58-52 lead. Washington scored the first two baskets on a tip-in and a fast break after a bad pass by Irving, leading to a timeout by Brown just 31 seconds into the game. Browns message obviously worked as the Cavaliers took a 13-8 lead, but the Wizards scored the next 12 points to go ahead 20-13. The teams split the season series, with the road team winning all four games. "The last time we played Cleveland, we gave the game away," Ariza said. "They played harder than us the last time. We did our best to prevent that from happening again." Hawes made his home debut late in the first quarter. He had 13 points and seven rebounds in 14 first-half minutes. NOTES: While theres no timetable for the return of Clevelands injured players, Varejao, who has missed the last six games, was on the court at Saturdays practice. Waiters hasnt been able to run since being injured Tuesday while Miles is still using crutches after hurting his ankle Wednesday. ... The Wizards are 11-6 in their last 17 road games. Washington is 14-14 on the road and at home. ... Cavaliers F Tristan Thompson, a native of Canada, celebrated his countrys win over Sweden in the gold-medal hockey game at the Olympics. "Were supposed to win," he said with a smile ... Wizards F Otto Porter, the third pick in the draft, didnt play for the fourth time in six games. Chicago White Sox Shirts . Smith has spent the last three seasons with the Rockies, playing both left and right field, and has a .275 batting average with 51 homers and 181 RBIs in 487 major league games. Stitched White Sox Jerseys . -- Its been 21 years since Joe Gibbs Racing celebrated its only Daytona 500 victory. https://www.cheapwhitesox.com/ . The future hall of famers stole the show at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night, with Jagr moving into seventh place in all-time goal scoring and Brodeur stopping 29 shots as the Devils downed the Montreal Canadiens 4-1.Every night of the Stanley Cup playoffs, TSN hockey analyst and former NHL goaltender Jamie McLennan breaks down each goalies performance. Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Steve Mason, Philadelphia (5) - Big part of the reason it was 1 - 1 after the first period, looked comfortable and in control of his game. He was late to get across a bit on the Dominic Moore goal, but was real good on handling the puck. He made a huge stop on Ryan Mcdonagh at end of 2nd to keep the lead heading into the 3rd period. Henrik Lundqvist, New York (3) - Not tested very much in the first, the Matt Read goal was a neat set play off the backboard. Jakub Voraceks goal was scored on a great deflection but he was really deep on the play, even for what were used to with him. Corey CCrawford, Chicago (4)- Very efficient but aggressive game, big saves on T. Fake White Sox Jerseys. J. Oshie in overtime, was solid all game, handled the puck well, stepped up when needed. Ryan Miller, St. Louis (3) - Goal by Marian Hossa was a rebound but there was contact on the play that turns him. He gave the Blues a chance to win. He didnt have much chance on the breakaway GWG, that was a great play by Jonathan Toews. Frederik Andersen (4) - Solid bounce back game, had answers for Ray Whitney, Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, needs to find consistency in his game. Kari Lehtonen (2) - Not a very good night, had issues with crease management and positioning, was exposed on side to side plays, needs to get back to the drawing board and to the basics. Tim Thomas (NR) - Saved one of two shots. ' ' '