After falling to Miami in overtime on Wednesday night, the Washington Wizards will look to bounce back against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Washington Wizards won’t have much time to process their overtime loss to the Miami Heat on before they take on the Cavaliers in Cleveland on Thursday night. It’s the second night of a back-to-back for the Wizards who are 1-2 on the second half of back-to-backs this season.
Luckily for Washington, they’ll be facing a Cleveland team that’s lost five straight, and are just 6-15 at home this season. Still, the challenge at hand is a difficult one for the Wizards.
Washington Wizards to Watch
Perhaps the most important thing to keep an eye on is not the productivity of Bradley Beal, but how apparently fatigued he is in this matchup. Washington’s starting shooting guard logged 38 minutes in their overtime loss to the Miami Heat, playing the entirety of overtime.
Beal, who’s played in 36 of 43 games this season, is very liable for an off night in Cleveland. It’ll be on the rest of the Wizards’ roster to step up to the plate.
Thomas Bryant may be the player to watch in this matchup, as he had a big night in their last game against the Cavaliers: 23 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists.
Bryant fared quite well in his matchup with the Cavaliers’ two star big men Tristan Thompson and Kevin Love. If he can replicate his November performance, it’ll give Washington an even higher chance of leaving Quicken Loans Arena with a win.
Key to Win: Get to the Foul Line
In November’s loss to the Cavaliers, the Wizards got to the charity stripe just six times. Beal, Bryant, and Rui Hachimura were the only players to attempt free throws, of which they made three.
Cleveland, on the other hand, went 25-for-29 from the free-throw line, which helped fuel their 13-point win over Washington. Call it bias on the officials, lack of aggressiveness in the post, whatever. But what the Wizards did last game did not work.
In fact, it was seemingly the entire month of November that Washington couldn’t get a foul call. Per NBA.com, they ranked 28th for the month in free throw attempts during the month of November, shooting only 19.1 per game on average. Things have changed since then and there is hope behind the Wizards recent play.
For the month of January, the Wizards are the 12th ranked team in terms of free throw attempts, with 23.2 per game. And the Cleveland Cavaliers, well they’ve cooled off entirely.
If Washington can go into Cleveland and stay aggressive in their drives and smart in their shot selection, then they’ll earn the foul calls they’ll no doubt need to win this one.