2023-24 Season | Game #35 | Wizards @ Cavs | Jan. 5, 2023 | 7:30 p.m.

[Wham with the Right Hand]

After a day off the Cavaliers have a rematch against the Washington Wizards, who they destroyed Wednesday night by a 140-101 score. Although the 6-27 Wizards are used to getting smacked around, the 39-point loss was their second worst of the season, worsted only by a 45-point loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

The game was actually competitive for most of the first half with the Cavs leading by 3 points with a minute-and-a-half remaining. But the Cavs hit the accelerator and closed the half on a 9-2 run, then annihilated them 73-46 after the intermission.

The Cavs shredded the Wizards from deep, hitting 20 of their 42 attempts from the 3-point line. Max Strus led the way on 6-for-8.

The Wizards rank last in the NBA in both offensive and defensive rebounding percentage and the Cavs took full advantage, beating them 62-36 on the boards. The Cavs missed 46 shots and had 18 offensive rebounds, or 39%. This is more than the Wizards average, which is 30%.

None of the Cavs’ starters played 30 minutes and two of them only played 20.

My guess is the Cavs will be a little (or a lot) overconfident going into the rematch and the Wizards won’t want to be embarrassed again by the same team just two nights later. So I’m expecting more intensity from the Wizards this time. But at this point it’s clear the Wizards are having a dumpster fire of a season and it’s every man for himself.

 

[N7RobBob]

Let's roll it back and have another fun night!

 

[jjvors]

I expect different heroes tonight. Perhaps Donovan and Merrill will get hot, or Allen will break 30.

I still expect a solid victory. 124-100 Cavs. 90% chance of a win.

 

[Adam]

I expect the wizards to come out and get a decent lead. Then we will see how the cvas respond. If they keep moving the ball then they will probably come back and win comfortably. If we get hero LeVert then I worry he will have an off shooting night and mess up the benches confidence

 

[pinoycavsfan]

I know Deni has not been playing well this season, but it would great if somehow Cavs could get him and revive his career ala Markennan.

 

[Cassity14]

Cavs were lucky to be hot the other night. Their defense to start the game was bad.

If that happens again, look out.

 

[cavsfever]

I predict the Wizards will fight hard to regain some pride and we’ll only win by 10-15 points

 

[cavsfever]

I know Deni has not been playing well this season, but it would great if somehow Cavs could get him and revive his career ala Markennan.

You’re right that Deni has not been playing well this season but it’s also true that he’s having his best season ever…unlike Lauri there is no career to revive

Also unlike ripped Finnish god Lauri, Deni is kind of chunky/sloppy physically…if we got him he would look good next to Niang. We could have a nice dad bod type front court

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

Deni would look good in a Cavs jersey. He has not tapped into his potential, at all.
It's his best season to date and he always sucks against the Cavs.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Deni is signed for four years after this season at $12-15 million per year. It looks like he's one of their long term building blocks. He's in his fourth season at age 23. Cleaningtheglass.com has him with an on/off of +7.5, second best on the Wizards and by far the best of his career.

His points per shot attempt put him in the 50th percentile among forwards. He's much better than average at the rim, but below average on mid-range shots (25th percentile) and 3's (35th percentile). He's tall for a small forward at 6'9" but is not a good outside or even mid-range shooter.

Where he excels is passing and defensive rebounding, ranking in the 93rd percentile in assists per usage rate and the 81st percentile in defensive rebound percentage. Would he be an upgrade over Max Strus at the 3? I don't think so. Strus leads the Cavs in on/off by a wide margin at +15.3. Mitchell is next closest at +10.4. The Cavs are 11.6 points better defensively with Strus on the floor which puts him in the 99th percentile. I don't see how the Cavs are a better team with Deni at the 3 than Strus.

It would be great if Deni could replace Okoro as the backup 3, but I don't think the Wizards would want Okoro, especially since he'll be a free agent after this season. As bad as the Wizards are they need draft picks and we don't have any to offer.

 

[eChameleon]

Seems like a good game to rest the starters.

 

[cavsfever]

The burning question here is whether Porter plays 20+ minutes. If he doesn’t, time to send an RCF lynch mob to JBB’s house

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

The burning question here is whether Porter plays 20+ minutes. If he doesn’t, time to send an RCF lynch mob to JBB’s house

Really? This is one game out of 82 and we're talking about a bench player who probably won't be in the rotation come the playoffs. What is so important that Porter needs to get 20 minutes instead of 16 or 18?

 

[cavsfever]

Really? This is one game out of 82 and we're talking about a bench player who probably won't be in the rotation come the playoffs. What is so important that Porter needs to get 20 minutes instead of 16 or 18?

I'm just making fun of the RCF focus on our two favorite topics -- how Porter is already an all-star calibre guard but is buried on the bench, and how JBB is secretly the devil sent to sabotage our otherwise championship-level team.

 

[Dr No]

We are a terrible matchup for the Wizards (most teams are, but we are more so). They have 2 scorers in Kuzma and Poole, and neither had any answer for their primary defenders in Wade and Okoro. Take away fast breaks or switches and I’m not sure either Poole or Kuzma got more than a couple of buckets against Wade and Okoro all night. Take away those two and how are the Wiz going to score enough to beat anyone with the way they play defense? They have no answer for DM. They can’t guard the 3 point line. Everything would have to break right for the Wiz to be in this game at the end. There is a reason we are 10.5 point favorites.