Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Washington Wizards: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 2/6/2023

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Venue: Capital One Arena, Washington, DC

Where to watch: NBCSWA, BSOH

DraftKings: Cavs -2.5

FanDuel: Cavs -3

BetMGM: Cavs -3.5

Caesars: NL

Cavs: 33-22

Wizards: 24-28

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Cavs: won 122-103 at Pacers

Wizards: lost 125-123 at Nets

The Cleveland Cavaliers are figuring out how to win right now. Thank the lord they have an idea of how to make it work. They’re looking for a fourth win in five games on Monday when they face the Washington Wizards in DC, but the Cavs are on the second night of a back-to-back heading into this game.

 

But at least the Cavs are coming into this one off a 122-103 win at the Indiana Pacers on Sunday in what might have been one of the more balanced efforts from the starting five that we’ve seen in a while. Darius Garland had a team-high 24 points on 8 of 13 shooting (4 of 6 from 3-point range), and Jarrett Allen had 18 points and 13 rebounds on 9 of 11 shooting. Isaac Okoro also had 20 points, while Donovan Mitchell struggled with just 19 points on 6 of 18 shooting. I’d be feeling the effects of getting hit below the belt against the now-suspended Dillon Brooks.

 

“There’s a seriousness to our approach and an attitude to how we are playing,” Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “I think we are taking steps in the right direction. Sometimes when the offense comes easy, you just get in a back-and-forth, but in the fourth we did a much better job of tightening back up and controlling the tempo. We are growing in that area of understanding the intensity level that it takes.”

 

The Cavs were due for a stretch of inconsistency as of late but have been able to bounce back in the right way to get back to 11 games above .500, but more importantly, this is the kind of game that you need from the Cavs to show they can win. And even know they’re on the second night of a back-to-back with travel, the Wizards haven’t really shown much to think they can take advantage of a tired Cleveland team.

 

The Wizards are looking to avoid three straight losses when they host Cleveland, but the two losses were not of the great kind. The first to the Portland Trail Blazers, which you can chalk up to as fine. The loss to the Brooklyn Nets, 125-123 one night later, was not. Especially with all the hoopla surrounding the Nets as of late that came to ahead on Sunday.

 

But even though they got 38 points from Kristaps Porzingis and 23 points from Demi Avdija, the Wizards still gave up 125 to the Nets, who did not have Kyrie Irving because reasons, and Kevin Durant because injury. Oh, and the Wizards had a 23-point lead and ultimately lost, because of course they did. And they allowed Cam Thomas to score 44 points. Anything else we missed?

 

“What can I say?” Porzingis told The Washington Post. “It’s very similar games (with Friday’s loss), right? (The Nets) played together, stayed together throughout everything. And not that we didn’t give our all, not that we didn’t play hard — just some stupid mistakes maybe. And, again, it slipped out of our hands.”

 

The Cavs are still favored in this game with consensus being at 2.5, which shows just how wild it’s been with the Wizards and their level of inconsistency.

 

The Cavs are just 11-16 away from home this year, so they’re not in a position to dominate such games, but at the very least, they should have more of a balance of talent to handle business in DC. Cavaliers 116, Wizards 107

Cavs are 24-17 ATS as a favorite this season.

Cavs are 27-48 ATS in the second half of the season the last 3 seasons.

Wizards are 9-14 ATS at home this season.

PG: Darius Garland

SG: Donovan Mitchell

SF: Isaac Okoro

PF: Evan Mobley

C: Jarrett Allen

PG: Monte Morris

SG: Bradley Beal

SF: Demi Avdija

PF: Kristaps Porzingis

C: Daniel Gafford

Injury report

Cavs: None

Wizards: Bradley Beal (foot, questionable), Kyle Kuzma (ankle, out)

Points: Donovan Mitchell -- 27.1

Rebounds: Jarrett Allen -- 9.7

Assists: Darius Garland -- 8.2

Points: Two tied -- 22.0

Rebounds: Kristaps Porzingis -- 8.8

Assists: Monte Morris -- 5.3