Cavs vs. Wizards Game Preview: Taking care of business
The Cavaliers look to come out of their break strong with a win over the Wizards.
The Cavs will look to come out of their mini-break with a win over the worst team in the league.
Who: Cleveland Cavaliers (21-4) vs. Washington Wizards (3-19)
Where: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse - Cleveland, OH
When: 7:00 p.m., Friday Dec. 12
TV: Fanduel Sports Network Ohio (previously Bally Sports), NBA League Pass
Line: Cavs -17
Expected Cavs starting lineup: Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Isaac Okoro, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen.
Cavs injury report: Max Strus - OUT (ankle), Evan Mobley - QUESTIONABLE (ankle), Isaac Okoro - PROBABLE (knee), Emoni Bates - OUT (knee), Craig Poter Jr. - OUT (G League)
Expected Wizards starting lineup: Bub Carrington, Jordan Poole, Bilal Coulibaly, Marvin Bagley III, Alex Sarr
Wizards injury report: Kyle Kuzma - OUT (rib), Malcolm Brogdon - OUT (hamstring), Corey Kispert - OUT (ankle), Saddiq Bey - OUT (ACL), Kyshawn George - OUT (ankle), Tristan Vukcevic - OUT (G League)
What to watch for
Staying focused
The Wizards have been historically bad this season and they’re playing without two of their top three scorers. Meanwhile, the Cavs are coming off of a four-day break. They were expected to get Max Strus back in the lineup, but that isn’t happening for this game.
All of that is to say that it would be very easy for the Cavs to come out without the focus needed to win this game or at the least, put this one away as easily as they should. As bad as the Wizards are, they still have NBA players capable of winning games.
The Cavs were given a gift by getting a chance to play the Wizards again after not advancing in the NBA Cup. If they had moved on in the tournament they would’ve instead been playing a team that didn’t have the worst record in the league. The Cavs need to take advantage of this gift if they want to keep pace with the Boston Celtics.
Back to basics
Kenny Atkinson has often talked about how the lack of practice time leads to slippage. That’s been seen at times most often on the defensive end of the court. That shouldn’t be an excuse on Friday as they’ve had four days off to practice and get back to their fundamentals.
The Cavs started the season playing phenomenally on both ends of the floor. They’ve still been good throughout the season, but the crispness hasn’t been there night in and night out. This would be a good opportunity to reestablish that level of play.