Cleveland Cavaliers at Washington Wizards Preview

Cleveland is going to be without Collin Sexton in this contest, as he deals with an apparent concussion. He has had several surprising DNP’s over the last month, nursing a variety of ailments. He did not miss a single game over the first two seasons of his NBA career, so there still shouldn’t be any reason to start worrying about him. Darius Garland will figure to shoulder a larger offensive load in his absence.

Westbrook has been triple-doubling at a rate we have never seen before. Oscar Robertson, who is all the all-time leader in the category, never put them up at the rate Westbrook is. For a player that has dealt with knee issues for years, Russ can still jump with the best of them. There might not be a more aggressive player in the entire league than this guy. And the Cavs will have a nightmarish time trying to slow him down.

ODDS:

The Wizards are favored to get the win. The spread is set at WAS -9.

Cavs Seeking Tough Road Win

Three weeks ago, the Wizards were a laughing stock. Now, all they can do is win, and they will get to see these Cavs three times in the next several weeks. The two meetings from earlier in the season were rescheduled to be played later. We’ve finally reached the first one, and the Cavs will have their work cut out for him.

What they really need is Matthew Dellavedova to play massive minutes so that he and Okoro can cover the combo of Beal/Westbrook for the entirety of the game. There’s nobody else you can really trust on the roster to guard a player of that caliber. If they can do that, with Garland honing his scoring ability, they might just stand a chance.

Wizards Seeking Another Home Win

Looking at the Wizards roster on paper, it really isn’t too good. They have holes across the board, and their entire normal starting frontcourt is dealing with injuries. Bryant and Avdija are out for the season, while Rui Hachimura doesn’t currently have a timetable to come back. They are playing Bradley Beal alongside two point guards. It’s a mess that isn’t so… messy.

Davis Bertans being healthy is certainly a plus, the $90 million man starting to find his groove from deep. The team clearly overpaid for his services, but if he can provide as a scoring threat, it will be worth it. He has been in and out of the lineup thanks to various injury issues throughout the campaign.

The game promises to be close, and you should probably bet on another Westbrook triple-double.