Location:
Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland,Oh
Probable Starters:
Cleveland:
- Collin Sexton
- Cedi Osman
- Tristan Thompson
- Alec Burks
- Larry Nance Jr
Washington:
- John Wall
- Bradley Beal
- Otto Porter Jr.
- Tomas Satoransky
- Thomas Bryant
Cleveland- If the highlight of Friday night was the Cavaliers trade with the Milwaukee Bucks. The low-light would be the 129-110 loss to the Sacramento Kings. Cleveland is now 5-20 on the season, with two straight home losses.
Following Friday’s game Rookie Collin Sexton opened up about George Hill’s impact this season.
“He helped me the most just preparing for the game and how I should come to each game_ knowing the other team’s scouting report and knowing what they’re going to do. Just making sure that you out there and execute.”
The man who is replacing Hill in the Cavaliers back court alongside Sexton, is a Cavalier fan favorite, Matthew Dellavedova. Tristan Thompson was happy when he heard the news.
“I’m glad my Aussie brother is back. brings us veteran leadership, a guy that’s won before, a guy that’s going to push Collin, control the game for the second unit and he’ll make shots. He’s good at throwing lobs to me me, so ‘m really happy about that.”
The Cavaliers lost Rodney Hood Friday to a right foot injury, it is unknown the status of him going forward. After the game, Cavaliers coach Larry Drew was unsure if he would play Saturday. Alec Burks is expected to get the start at shooting guard, fresh off his best game in Cleveland. Against Sacramento, Burks accomplished something no other Cavalier had every done before in franchise history. Off the bench Burks scored 22 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists, according to Ellis Sports Bureau this had never happened before.
A look at the Wizards
The Cavaliers and Wizards are meeting for the second time this season, Washington won the first one rather convincingly. Soon after the win against the Cavs, there was talk of turmoil in Washington. Reports of a John Wall outburst towards teammates and coaches, lead to trade speculation. As of now nothing has happened, but the Wizards playing better basketball. Washington has won three straight and nine of their last 14.
One thing you can point to for the improvement is the pace in which the Wizards have been playing with. Over the course of their last 14 games, Washington is sixth in the NBA in pace. This is according to NBA.com, there are five teams currently tied for sixth. After a win Wednesday night, guard Bradley Beal talked about the increase in pace.
“We have to play fast and that was easier because we got stops defensively, we were able to get out in transition and get some easy ones. We just continued to move the ball and share it. Everybody was moving tonight and that is the way that we need to play every game.
Wednesday in a win against Atlanta, Washington had a season high 35 assists, three guys had seven or more assists. This season Washington is being paced by Bradley Beal, who is averaging 22 points a game, shooting 47 percent from the field. If the Wizards are able to move the ball and play with pace they will present a difficult challenge for Cleveland.
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