NBA Free Premium Play 03/12: Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers

Washington  at Cleveland

NBA - 553 Washington Wizards @ 554 Cleveland Cavaliers Projected Lines: Washington by 4 points Kyrie Irving got injured last Sunday in Toronto and so, I believe Cleveland will now be in tank mode for the rest of the season, as I doubt Irving will return this season. These two teams have similar records (Washington 20-41; Cleveland 21-42), so it's interesting to know what will be the motivation of both teams for tonight's game. After doing some research, I trust the Wizards much more than the Cavaliers tonight. Washington is a veteran team with Emeka Okafor, Nene Hilario and Trevor Ariza, so I don't believe they will relax for the rest of the season, while they are also 0-2 against Cleveland this season and so, they will try to avoid getting swept by the Cavaliers tonight. “Last chance, too. We only play these guys three times. So this is our last opportunity. We’re 0-fer against these guys” Coach Randy Wittman said. We are in front of two teams that are likely to struggle on the offensive end. Washington is coming from a nice offensive game against the hapless Bobcats, but they have been struggling especially on their outside shooting. Their rookie Bradley Beal is a huge absence for them, as he is definitely their best shooter! Washington now depends from Trevor Ariza and Martell Webster to have good outside shooting numbers and that's not a good thing for Washington. On the other side, Kyrie Irving is Cleveland's whole offense and the truth is that on their last game at Toronto, they scored 55 points in the first half, but as Irving got injured in the middle of the third quarter, they were only able to score 41 points in the second half! The problem for the Cavaliers's offense is that Washington's defense is an elite unit. It's not easy to score easy points down low against Emeka Okafor and Nene Hilario plus the Cavaliers lack a skilled big man to give them easy points near the basket. Cleveland will have to depend from their backcourt and without Irving, everything gets much harder for them. Dion Waiters is a decent player, but he will get all the attention from the Wizards's defense with Irving out of the game. I believe Washington should have been the favorite for this contest due to their much better defense, on a game that has everything to be an ugly contest, with both teams struggling on offense. This was what happened on the last game between these two teams, where Cleveland won at Washington by 87-84. Looking at all of this, I'll be taking both the Wizards tonight. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 553 Washington Wizards (-1) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker