Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Washington Wizards: Game Preview, Prediction
By Nick Wilder
@NickCWilder
Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Two Eastern Conference powers, the Cleveland Cavaliers (5-5) and Washington Wizards (7-3), will play their first matchup of the season on Friday night in Washington D.C. Both of these teams are early-season favorites to be an eventual top-four seed in the East and have home-court advantage for at least the first round of the playoffs.
The Cavaliers, led by four-time NBA MVP LeBron James, are off to a surprisingly slow start to the season. After signing James and acquiring Kevin Love via trade in the offseason to go along with Kyrie Irving, the team was expected to go through some growing pains, but they’ve been more inconsistent through 10 games than basically everyone envisioned.
Cleveland’s biggest strength, as expected, has been its offense under first-year NBA coach David Blatt. With its new-and-improved roster, the Cavaliers are fifth in the NBA in offensive efficiency and have proven to be very difficult to guard with the variety of weapons they possess, especially in pick-and-rolls.
The main problem for Cleveland has come on the defensive end, as it is currently ranked 26th in defensive efficiency. The team lacks a legitimate rim protector and is also 26th in opponent field goal percentage at the rim, according to NBA.com. That end of the court will continue to be a work in progress for the Cavaliers throughout the season.
As for the Wizards, they’ve had a strong start to their season behind rising-star John Wall, even though his backcourt mate Bradley Beal missed the team’s first nine games of the season due to injury. In his first action of the season, Beal came off the bench against the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night and scored 21 points in a loss.
It’s difficult to judge the Wizards so far this season since they’ve been without their second-best player in Beal. However, even without him, the team’s defense and ability to move the ball efficiently on offense in particular have been great. They are currently ranked sixth in defensive efficiency and are tied for third in offensive assist ratio.
The Wizards are third in the Eastern Conference right now, but have enjoyed one of the easiest schedules in the league through 10 games. Their best win came against the Milwaukee Bucks (7-5) in their second game of the season. Beating the Cavaliers would definitely qualify as Washington’s best win of the season, despite Cleveland’s mediocre record currently.
The biggest thing to watch for in this matchup on Friday night is how well Washington’s formidable defense can contain Cleveland’s dynamic offense. Whichever team is able to get the upper hand in that aspect of the game will likely come away with the win.
Both of these teams will surely bring their best game to the court, as they know the significance of this battle between Eastern Conference contenders. The Cavaliers are still working through some initial issues with their team and the Wizards’ home crowd will be pumped for this game.
Final Score Prediction: Wizards 105, Cavaliers 101
Nick Wilder is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickCWilder and add him to your network on Google.
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