By james art The Cavs look to continue their hot start as they travel to Washington for their third game in four nights.
WHO: Cleveland Cavaliers (2-0) vs. Washington Wizards (0-1)
where: Capital One Arena – Washington, DC
When: 7:00 p.m., Saturday, October 26
television: FanDuel Sports Network Ohio (formerly Bally Sports), NBA League Pass
Line: Cavs -9.5
Cavs Expected Starting Lineup: Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Dean Wade, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen
Cavs injury report: Max Strus – OUT (ankle), Emoni Bates – OUT (knee), JT Thor – OUT (2-way), Luke Travers – OUT (2-way)
Wizards Expected Starting Lineup: Bub Carrington, Jordan Poole, Bilal Koulibaly, Kyle Kuzma, Alex Sarr
Wizards injury report: Saddiq Bey – OUT (knee), Malcolm Brogdon – OUT (toe), Bub Carrington – PROBABLE (ankle), Ja’Kobe Walter – OUT (shoulder)
Fear of the sword will be hosting a live streaming watch party for select games this year Playback. join us how we react to all actions.
What to watch out for
Advantage in the front area
The Cavs got off to a soft start to their schedule. They’ve also faced a smaller and/or inexperienced frontcourt in every game. It’s no different against Washington.
Second pick Alex Sarr struggled in his first game against the Boston Celtics. He won’t get a break as he and small forward Kyle Kuzma have to deal with one of the biggest front lines in the league with Allen, Mobley and Wade.
If the Cavs are going to win this game going away, as they should, it will be because they dominated the paint.
Can Darius Garland Break Through?
Garland is playing better than what the stats say. He picks up movement off the ball, plays at a higher tempo and does a much better job of finding shooters off drives. However, this is not visible if the shots do not go through.
It looked like Garland was going to have a breakout game against the Detroit Pistons on Saturday. He scored nine quick points, but fell short as he couldn’t get the shot to fall. More importantly, the process he showed remained good.
The Wizards aren’t the toughest test, but you’d like to see a night where he gets rewarded for his good play.