Cavaliers vs. Wizards Preview
Washington, DC – The Washington Wizards have been a notoriously bad home team over the past couple of years, but they haven’t had an issue with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Washington looks to continue its domination over Cleveland on Saturday night as it tries to open 2-0 at home for the first time since 2006-07.
Oddsmakers from online sports book SBGGLOBAL.com have made the Wizards –4.5 point spread favorites for Saturday’s game against the Cavaliers. Current NBA Public Betting Information shows that 62% of more than 639 bets for this game have been placed on the Wizards -4.5.
The Wizards (1-3) are tied for 28th with 29 home victories since the start of the 2008-09 season – but somehow have gone 3-0 against the Cavaliers, who then featured LeBron James on the roster.
Washington also is 12-2 against the Cavaliers at the Verizon Center in the regular season since the beginning of 2002-03.
John Wall has been the topic of much discussion since scoring 29 points, dishing out 13 assists, and tying a franchise record with nine steals in his home debut Tuesday night, a 116-115 overtime win against Philadelphia.
The top overall draft pick in 2010 put up 13 points and a team-high seven assists in Friday night’s 112-91 loss to the Knicks, but also turned the ball over nine times – giving him 17 in his last two contests.
Wall knows he needs to take better care of the basketball.
“I’m a leader, I’ve got to be a better leader and a better decision maker for my team,” he said. “To win games I’ve got to keep the turnovers down.”
Gilbert Arenas made his return to action for the first time since Jan. 5, before he was suspended for the final 50 games of last season for bringing guns into the locker room.
Arenas was glad to get back on the court but knows it will take some time getting into the flow of things.
“First couple of them I rushed it, just being nervous out there. In the fourth quarter I felt comfortable,” he said. “It’s really been a long time, they kept yelling at me to be aggressive and I was like, ‘I forgot how to’.”
The three-time All Star missed the first three games of the new season with a strained tendon in his right ankle, but scored 18 points – 14 in the fourth quarter – and should provide a boost to a Wizards offense averaging 96.3 points. Arenas is averaging 22.1 points in 19 career games versus Cleveland.
Andray Blatche has totaled 45 points in his last two games, but has never scored more than 14 when playing the Cavaliers.
Cleveland (2-3) hung on after blowing a 19-point lead for its first road win of the season as it defeated Philadelphia 123-116 on Friday to snap a three-game losing streak.
“We’ve got a lot of character. We could have folded, but we didn’t,” Mo Williams said.
Anderson Varejao scored a season-high 23 points while going 10-of-10 from the floor and also collected 12 rebounds. It was the first time in his seven-year career he had gone perfect from the field while attempting at least 10 shots.
Williams also came out with a strong effort in his first start of the season with 22 points, seven assists and three steals.
The Cavaliers were without former Wizard Antawn Jamison for a second consecutive game with a sore left knee. The two-time All Star has career averages of 19.8 points and 8.0 rebounds, but is scoring just 6.3 points and grabbing 2.3 rebounds per game this season.
His status for this game is unknown.
Cleveland hasn’t won in Washington since a 99-94 victory on April 6, 2007. Jamison scored 27 in the loss.