Cooper Albers takes you through his preview, prediction and pick for Friday’s matchup between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Washington Wizards.
Eastern Conference rivals from opposite ends of the standings meet Friday night as the Washington Wizards host the Cleveland Cavaliers at Capital One Arena.
The Wizards (1-7, 15th East) aim to snap a six-game skid at home after suffering a 29-point blowout to the Boston Celtics. Meanwhile, the Cavs (5-3, 4th East) look to extend their two-game winning streak, fresh off a convincing double-digit victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Looking at the injury report, Max Strus (foot), Lonzo Ball (knee), and Dean Wade (eye) are out for the Cavs, with De’Andre Hunter (illness) listed as probable. For Washington, Bilal Coulibaly (lower leg) will be sidelined.
Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. ET. The Cavs enter as a commanding 13.5-point road favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook, while the Wizards are listed as +575 underdogs. The game’s total is set at 240.5 points.
Cavaliers vs. Wizards Preview
Cleveland has struggled to recapture last season’s dominance. The Cavaliers, who paced the East with a 64-18 regular season record, still haven’t recovered from their premature exit against the Indiana Pacers in the Conference Semifinals. They’ve opened this season at a respectable 5-3, but their sturdy defense has been undercut by a bottom-third offense, producing a perfectly average net rating that ranks 15th in the league.
But there’s plenty of optimism surrounding this squad. Led by one of the NBA’s top scorers in Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland just welcomed back its second option, Darius Garland, who had been sidelined with a toe injury. The former No. 5 overall pick should provide a much-needed boost to the offense and tallied eight points and four assists in his first game back against the 76ers as he works toward regaining his 20-point-per-game form from last season.
Washington has met expectations — granted, the bar was on the floor. The Wizards finished with the worst record in the conference last season and trudge into Friday night’s matchup owning the league’s worst net rating.
Alex Sarr appears on track for a solid sophomore leap, averaging 19 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game. But beyond that, there isn’t much to be excited about for a franchise that’s reached the playoffs just once since the 2018-19 season.
Cavaliers vs. Wizards, Best Bet
Turnovers could be the story of this one. The Cavs have been sloppy with the ball, allowing the NBA’s fifth-most steals, but they’ve balanced it out by generating the fourth-most takeaways of their own.
Cleveland looks poised to clean things up against a Wizards team that allows the most opponent steals while forcing the fewest turnovers in the league. That imbalance was on full display in Washington’s latest game against Boston, where the Wizards lost the turnover battle 19-5.
The Cavs have capitalized on their takeaways, ranking fourth in points off turnovers. Count on Cleveland to push the pace and run up the score against Washington on Friday night.
Best Bet: Cleveland Cavaliers -13.5 points (-112)
