Live Thread: Cavs @ Wizards

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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.