Game Info

Who: Cleveland Cavaliers (2-2) vs. Washington Wizards (2-1)

When: 7:00 PM (ET)

Where: The Quicken Loans Arena (Cleveland, Ohio)

TV/Radio: FSOHIO HD, WTAM 1100

Lineups

Wizards: Gilbert Arenas, Mike Miller, Caron Butler, Fabricio Oberto, Brendan Haywood

Cavaliers: Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, LeBron James, Anderson Varejao, Shaquille O’Neal

Injuries

Wizards: Javaris Crittenton (Left Foot), Antawn Jamison (Right Shoulder)

Cavaliers: Leon Powe (Left Knee Surgery)

Game Notes

* The Cavaliers have defeated the Wizards five consecutive games at Quicken Loans Arena, winning the five games by an average margin of 99.8 – 88.6, shooting .474 from the field to the Wizards .434 and outrebounding Washington 47.2 – 34.6.

* Versus Charlotte, Mo Williams tallied a game-high 24 points on 9-14 (.643) shooting, including 5-8 (.625) on three-point attempts, three assists, one steal and one block in 35 minutes. On the season, Williams is averaging 18.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists and is shooting 10-19 (.526) on three-pointers and 18-20 (.900) from the free throw line.

* LeBron James notched 14 points, a team-high nine assists and seven rebounds in 37 minutes versus the Bobcats. For the season, James is leading the team in points (24.8), rebounds (7.8) and assists (8.8 – ranks 5th in the NBA) in 38.8 minutes per game.

* In his first game of the season, Delonte West scored 13 points (all in the second half) on 5-7 (.741) shooting in 24 minutes to lead the Cavaliers bench, while adding two rebounds, two assists and a steal.

* For the second straight night, two Cavs’ bench players hit double figures in scoring as the bench scored 25 points on 11-18 (.611) shooting.

* Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 10 points off the bench on a perfect 5-5 shooting from the field in 20 minutes versus the Bobcats. Ilgauskas also had a season-high five of the Cavaliers nine blocks for the game. Over his last two games, he is averaging 12.5 points on 12-19 (632) shooting, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks. Ilgauskas (711 games played, 667 starts) is only nine games away from tying Bingo Smith (720 games) for second all-time (Danny Ferry, 723 games) in games played in franchise history.

* On Saturday, Anthony Parker scored 10 of his 13 points in the first half, while shooting 5-8 (.625) from the field, including 3-4 (.750) on three-pointers in 31 minutes. Parker is averaging 10.3 points, while shooting a team-best 8-13 (.615) from behind the arc, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 35.5 minutes on the season.

* Anderson Varejao six points and added eight rebounds to go with a game-high three steals and a block in 33 minutes on Saturday. Varejao is averaging 7.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in 31.5 minutes on the season.

* After Saturday’s win, Cleveland has defeated the Bobcats in seven consecutive games and now has an all-time record of 10-0 against Charlotte at Quicken Loans Arena. The 10-game winning streak is Cleveland’s second-longest home winning streak to begin a series behind the 14-game home winning streak against the Charlotte Hornets from Nov. 15, 1994 – Dec. 28, 1998. The Cavaliers have won 40 of their last 43 regular season home games.

* On Saturday the Cavs’ toughened up the defense in the second half, holding the Bobcats to just 11-29 (.379) shooting and just 38 points. The Bobcats finished with 79 points, marking the first time the Cavs held an opponent under 80 points this season. The team also allowed just two fast break points while scoring 12 of their own.

* Cleveland’s defense so far on the season ranks sixth in the NBA in opponent points per game (90.5), 9th in opponent field goal percentage (.435), 6th in blocks per game (6.5) and 8th in steals per game (7.8). The Cavaliers rank first in giving up second chance points at only 7.6 points per game, are also only allowing 32.7 points in the paint, which is the 4th fewest in the league.

* The Cavs connected on 9-16 (.563) shots from beyond the arc against Charlotte after going 10-18 (.556) against Minnesota on Friday. For the season the team is shooting 34-73 (.466), which ranks 3rd in the NBA with Anthony Parker leading the team at 8-13 (.615), Mo Williams at 10-19 (.526) and Daniel Gibson at 8-18 (.444).

What 2 Watch 4

1. The so-called “rivalry” – The Wizards want to call it one but the Cavs don’t. Whatever the case may be, whenever these two teams get together there are always fireworks. So far the Wizards have got off to a good start and are a better team than in years past, so it should be one of the tougher Wizards teams the Cavs have faced the last few years.

2. Continued offensive improvement – The Cavs have been getting better on offense every single game and have been getting more used to Shaquille O’Neal. As the season progresses the Cavs will get 100% comfortable, or close to it, but right now it’s a process and it’s all about improving from one game to another.

3. 2nd Quarter Collapse – I know I’ve mentioned this before but this will now be even more so key versus a good Washington team. The Cavs were able to play a little better than even the past two games in the 2nd Quarter, but that was against the T’Wolves and the Bobcats.

The Pick: Cavs 98, Wizards 96

Tagged as: Cleveland Cavaliers, Washington Wizards