The Cleveland Cavaliers travel to the nation’s capital to face the Washington Wizards for the second of a back to back schedule on Wednesday 11/14/18.
The Cavs defeated the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night to notch their second win of the season. On the other side, the Washington Wizards have won three of their last five games and are on a two-game winning streak.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are literally walking wounded. They are already without Kevin Love, George Hill and Sam Dekker. On Tuesday night, the Cavs again played without Cedi Osman who is suffering back spasms and Kyle Korver who is bothered by a sore foot. Still, Cleveland got 24 points from former Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson and they beat the Charlotte Hornets 113-89 in Cleveland.
The win was only Cleveland’s second of the season and it snapped a five game losing skid for the Cavaliers. At 2-11, Cleveland has the worst record in the NBA and is one of three teams ( Phoenix and Minnesota are the others ) still to record a road win this season.if their misfortunes continue, they’d likely keep that title until the end of the season.
The Cavs ranked 27th in scoring at 103.3 points per game and 28th in assists at 19.8 assists per game. The Cavs also rank 30th in the league in three pointers made. On the defensive end, they don’t get any better. Cleveland is 23rd in rebounding with 43.2 caroms per night and 23rd in scoring defense by allowing 113.1 points per game.
Like the Cavaliers, the Wizards are also “celebrating” a little triumph. With their win over the Heat and Magic in their previous two games, the Wizards are now on their first winning streak of the season. The Wizards have been perennial playoff contenders in the Eastern Conference the last couple of years but they’ve started slow this year at 4-9.
As before, the backcourt duo of John Wall and Bradley Beal are leading Washington’s charge. Wall is averaging a team-best 22.5 points, 8.2 assists and 2.2 steals per game while Beal is scoring 22.1 points per game while leading the team in blocked shots at 1.2 swats per game. Dwight Howard leads the Wizards in rebounding with 9.3 boards per contest while adding 13.0 points per game.
Washington ranks 12th in scoring at 111 points per game but they rank only 24th in assists at 21.9 dimes per night. The Wizards only shoot the three ball at a 32.8% accuracy, making them the 24th ranked three point shooting team in the league. Defensively, Washington allows 118.5 points per game, dead last in the league. They are also second to the last in rebounds at 40.2 caroms per game.
The Washington Wizards lead the all-time series 110-104 but the Cavaliers have won seven out of the last 10 games between these two teams including three out of the four meetings last season. The Cavs has also won the last two season series between these two Eastern Conference teams.
Heading to Tuesday’s games, Cleveland is 0-5 SU in their last 5 games played and 0-5 SU in their last 5 games on the road. In fact, the Cavs are winless in six road games played this season. The Wizards are 4-11 SU in their last 15 games and 2-3 SU in five home games this season. Head to head, the Cavs are 6-2 SU in their last 8 games versus the Wizards and 6-1 SU in their last seven games on the road against the Wizards. However, the big consideration to make here is the fact that LeBron James is no longer in Cleveland. That is probably going to be the difference maker in this game and in the current season in general for the Cavs.
Aside from losing LeBron James, Cleveland is also playing without Kevin Love who is expected to miss six weeks after undergoing toe surgery recently. The Cavs also played without George Hill, Sam Dekker, Kyle Korver and Cedi Osman on Tuesday against the Hornets. With more rotation players in street clothes rather than in uniform, life is even tougher for the Cavs. Kudos to them for winning against the Hornets but this is the second game of a back to back so I don’t expect much from them playing on the road against Washington. We’re picking the Washington Wizards to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers on 11/14/18.
Despite having a 1-11 SU record entering Tuesday’s games, the Cavs are 6-6 ATS in 12 games played this season and impressively, they are 5-1 ATS in their 6 road games played this season. The Wizards meanwhile are only 4-9 ATS in their 13 games played this campaign. At home, Washington is 2-3 ATS in five games played. The Wizards are 1-4 ATS in their last five home games against the Cavs.
Cleveland’s last three losses have come via single digits and at an average losing margin of 4 points per game. That’s why they have been very good against the spread despite their league worst record. This is the second of a back to back for them though so that’s a concern. But all things considered, I like the Cavs coming off a win and having a good ATS record. I think Washington wins but Cleveland covers the spread. Prediction: Cavs +12
Prior to Tuesday’s games, the under is 5-0 in Cleveland’s last 5 games played and the total has also gone under in four out of their last five games on the road. For Washington, the over is 9-4 in their last 13 games, the over is 4-2 in their last 6 games against the Cavaliers and the over is also 5-2 in their last seven home games against Cleveland.
With all the injuries they are having, the Cavaliers are having a hard time putting points on the scoreboard. In their last six games, the Cavs are averaging just 97 points per game and they’ve scored less than 100 points in four out of those six games. That said, I don’t think the Wizards can make up for the difference in the scoring total, thus I’m going with the under here. Prediction: Under 220
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
