The Washington Wizards currently sit with a league-worst record at 2-16 entering Tuesday night's matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Entering the matchup, Washington is in the midst of a 14 game losing streak after some of the worst play in recent memory for the Wizards throughout the month of November. Obviously, the task of snapping their losing streak against the top seed in the Eastern Conference will be tough, but Cleveland has shown in the last few weeks they're more than capabale of getting beat.
With the Cavaliers losing back to back games against the Atlanta Hawks to end November, it seems like Cleveland tends to play down to their compeition. That said, if the Cavs overlook the Wizards, Tuesday's matchup could be theirs for the taking.
Nonetheless, to steal a win on the road, they'll have to do these three things to do so.
Allow Bilal Coulibaly to slow down Donovan Mitchell
Donovan Mitchell is without a doubt the main reason for the Cavaliers success throughout the start of the season. The star guard is an explosive scorer and in Kenny Atkinson's offense, his style of play has seemingly reached another level this season in Cleveland.
In order for the Wizards to win this showdown, they'll have to slow down Mitchell. For them to do that, they'll need their two-way guard Bilal Coulibaly to take on the challenge of defending Mitchell. With Coulibaly's success in knocking top talents in the league out of their rhythm such as Trae Young, the hope is he can do the same against Cleveland vs. Mitchell.
Get Jordan Poole involved early
Jordan Poole is the driving force of the Wizards on offense and if Washington hopes to have any chance keeping pace with the Cavaliers, they'll need to get Poole going early. The guard has struggled to find consistency throughout his time in Washington, but there's no denying that when his shot is falling, he's one of the most explosive scorers in the league.
A big offensive night from Poole could be exactly what the Wizards need to steal a win on the road.
Allow Alex Sarr to challenge Evan Mobley
Alex Sarr has shown flashes early in his career that seemingly resemble the start of Cleveland's young forward Evan Mobley's start. The two linky forwards have versatility on both offense and defense and it could be a matchup that Sarr takes personally to showcase how good he can be in the future.
If Sarr shows up on Tuesday, it could give the Wizards the lift they need.