Live Thread: Cavs @ Wizards
2018-11-14
The Cavs finally grabbed a second win last night against the Hornets, a team that previously blew them out. Today, they face off against a struggling Washington Wizards team who are just 4-9 this season and facing even more turmoil than the Cavs, as the general news around their organization ranges from the players disliking each other to full on hating each other. The Wine and Gold have a chance to string together back to back wins.
The Cavs are still down some rotation players. Kyle Korver, Kevin Love, and George Hill are out. Cedi Osman is questionable with back spasms.
Three Things to Watch
- Some pictures get burned into your head. Fat John Wall is one of them for me. Wall is Washington’s best creator getting 8.2 assists per game. He can’t shoot 3s though. He’s 31.7% from deep to date this season. For the Cavs this means one thing: let the man rip 3s all day and channel his inner fat man standing waiting for another hot dog. Bradley Beal And Otter Porter Jr. are both great shooters, but don’t create their own shots with ease. The Cavs should drop back on the pick and roll.
- This is a two fold strategy. Dwight Howard isn’t the beast that took out the Cavs during the LeBron 1.0 era, but he can still get buckets on the pick and roll and when he’s catching the ball near the rim. Not trying to trap Wall all night or chasing him off the line will help keep him from feeding Howard against an open rim. Larry Nance and Tristan Thompson stand a good chance against Dwight and should be able to keep him from getting very many second looks for the Wiz.
- Lastly, let the Wizards lose. Against Charlotte, the Cavs capitalized on an off night for Charlotte. The Hornets couldn’t buy a bucket and the Cavs didn’t give them any either. If the Wizards are being sloppy with the ball, the Cavs need to run. If they can’t hit 3s, the Cavs need to encourage them to bomb away. If Wall doesn’t want to share the ball, let him try to dance one-0n-one. And, go at the Wizards. Their defense is worse than the Cavs statistically. Make them defend multiple actions. Off-ball screens alongside pick and rolls would be a start.
I’m picking the Cavs to win again tonight. The Wizards are the one organization that seems like they might have as many problems as the Cavs. They might have a better front office, but their player chemistry is Mentos in Diet Coke. Cavs win 121-111.
Garbage flop by Oubre….
Bad Clarkson tonight.
This game is over.
Bad possession Clarkson.
Man… Clarkson handle just as loose as Sextons tonight…
Ziz just can’t seem to get decent box out positioning on boards…
Bad turnover Clarkson
Harrison three!!!!! Finally
Love how Nwaba pushes the ball…
Harrison with the rare triple…
https://twitter.com/DavidZavac/status/1062867494996729856
Agree with this take.
Spoke too soon…
KLove would have helped against this Wiz team… esp on the glass
Not a bad recovery there at the end of quarter…. Offense is working besides turnovers. Defense needs work…. Need to stop porter.
Yikes… terrible defensive quarter…
Too many TOs & no D glass. Shooting 70%+ and down 12.
Jesus, get a freaking D-board. This is pathetic.
Wow… Rebounding and defense suck right now
We won’t get 60 boards every game. Washington taking it to them.
Must be behind everyone. Cavs look like they are about to be smoked where I am.
Bleeding points, need a tourniquet quick.
TT early foul trouble hurts on the glass…
Leave him in. Who cares if he fouls out? It’s better than getting pummeled and then having the game end with him at 4 fouls.
Zizic clean up!!!
Really porous D tonight so far… particularly in transition… gotta stop guys from running to the rim
Cedi drive and finish!!!! Great pass Sexton!
Nice floater Cedi!
Sexton jumper money!!!!
Sexton pull up!!!
I like cedi as back up PG right now
Clarkson pull up!!!
Giving up a crapload of points….the typical sloppy turnovers aren’t helping…
Sexton turning the ball over too much. Two bad ones the last couple of possessions. Wall is tough match up for him.
Getting good looks when we run our stuff. Too many TOs & wasted transition chances.
Six turnovers already this quarter… Sexton in particular needs to check his handle…
Sexton shoulda used the left hand there…
Clarkson money!
That move and jumper from Sexton is what I think he can eventually be very good at. Using his quickness to get off jumpers in his sweet spot, and the ability to drive to the rim if you play up on him…
Two bad turnovers kill the Cavs.
Nwaba great finish!!!
Too many turnovers… take care of the ball fellas…
Nice steal by Nance… Nwaba flush!
Hood back door!!!!!
YB for 3!
Sexton 3!!!!!!! Nice pass Nwaba and hood!
The passing got better with Nwaba in there…
Ball movement for Young Bull trey!
Larry’s hands are so bad…
Sexton midrange!
Duke already up 23-7…
They are going to be men against boys all year…
JR!
And again!!!
Swish heating up!
Nice flop, Morris, you scrub…
Nance could really help himself if he finished with authority, or at least always went to the rim with authority…
Not nearly the aggression or decisiveness of last night so far…
Porter’s scoring too much…Wall is gonna get pissed…
CHARGE ALSO ON TONIGHT —-AT PRESENT –TIED –19–19
Duke also on tonight…
Where was the foul?
Larry… long arm of the law
Nice ball movement! Great defense Nance!
EVIL JUST SAW THAT TOPICAL VIEW——-MAN THAT IS TOO CLOSE —-YOU MUST HAVE THE “—-RIGHT CONNECTIONS ” FROM ABOVE ——STAY SAFE -!!—GO CAVS !!
Yeah, my neighborhood was literally surrounded by fire…
Cavs lethargic.
“Otter” Porter eating them up in pick and roll…
I really wish at least one of the Morris twins played in the West…
When Hood is on, he looks so silky…
Use the glass Young Bull…
Hood money!!!
Nice set to get Hood an open look…
Got JR an open look too, just couldn’t hit it. Reminiscent of the double pick they set for Korver.
Oh good… Jeff Green
GOOOOO CAVS!!!!
Nwaba’s presence made Clarkson appear to play better… would love to see Coach Drew keep playing them together tonight…
I mean I actually have liked the way JC has played over about the last four games.
significant test here.. if they can defeat the wiz boys on their home court, grabbing 2 straight wins, uncle buck will up his win estimates.. is drew the difference maker? despair, shame self-loathing? who knows, but they seem to be putting up a credible effort with decent results.. i am actually a tad nervous that when the injured return, they actually may be a fairly decent team, and may therefore, threaten the zion imperative
Zion Imperative sounds like a 70s dark drama like the Andromeda Strain, French Connection, or the Eiger Sanction.
We basically went with 7 guys last night: Sexton, Hood, JR, LNJ, TT + Clarkson & Nwaba.
May have to go a bit deeper on a b2b. Cedi would help. More minutes for Zizic & Harrison will be needed.
Good observation, but Drew did a pretty good job limiting everyone’s minutes. Agreed, I expect to see more of Zizic and Harrison, maybe Frye instead Zizic if Drew doesn’t want to trust Zizic.
I liked Young Bull’s distribution and awareness yesterday, hoping this continues. Also hope TT is left 1 on 1 again!
Yup…. I was going to mention him specifically and how Drew limited Sexton’s minutes yesterday probably to manage today.
It’s been very clear over the past two games that Sexton has to be on the court for the offense to function with any consistency. Outside of Hill, Sexton’s all we’ve got as far as a legit NBA PG goes. Clarkson has been the tiniest bit better, but far too inconsistent.
No thanks on Harrison.
Cedi better be back. It’s just more fun to watch when he is playing.
Is Nwaba a better option at this point though if they want to win right now? I have to say it, but Cedu just can’t match what Nwaba brings defensively and if he can hit some open threes.