Home, Sweet Home
J.B. Bickerstaff’s scrappy young squad comes into the contest riding a four-game win streak – including a pair of dramatic road victories over the weekend – and have now won seven of their last nine. Their 7-4 mark is the Cavaliers best start since the season after winning the 2016 Championship.
It’s been a different hero almost every night for Cleveland, which is coming off a convincing win over the Knicks in New York on Sunday evening. The Wine & Gold went 13-of-17 from beyond the arc in the second half of that win – with Ricky Rubio drilling six of those bombs on seven second-half attempts – part of his game- and career-high 37-point explosion, going 8-of-9 from three-point range and 13-of-19 from the floor overall, adding a game-high 10 assists.
Rubio – who became the first reserve in NBA history to post those numbers off the bench – got plenty of help on Sunday. Jarrett Allen – who was named the Eastern Conference’s Player of the Week the following day – added 18 points and a game-high 17 boards for his fourth straight double-double – and outstanding rookie Evan Mobley pitched with a career-high of his own, finishing with 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting, including 2-of-4 from long-range, adding nine rebounds, five assists, a steal and a blocked shot.
The Wizards come into tonight’s contest with a 7-3 mark – their best since the start of the 2014-15 season – having won five of their last seven, including a home victory over the reigning Champs on Sunday night.
In that seven-point win, the red-hot Bradley Beal finished with 30 points on 14-of-22 shooting to go with a game-high eight assists. Kyle Kuzma doubled-up with 15 points and 10 boards and Montrezl Harrell added 15 points off bench.
The Cavaliers stay home for the next three games following Wednesday’s contest – welcoming the Pistons and Celtics to town for a weekend back-to-back before closing out the homestand on Monday night, also against Boston.
History
These two franchises have a long history – both in the regular and postseason. Washington leads the all-time regular season series, 116-108, and have won the last three contests, including all three meetings late last year by an average of nearly 18 points per.
The postseason has been a different story, however. In 26 Playoff meetings, the Cavs hold a distinct 17-9 advantage – including a 12-4 mark in three series victories in 2006, ’07 and ’08.
The all-time single-game rebounder in the series on Washington’s end is Hall of Famer and father of the current team’s head coach, Wes Unseld, who grabbed 28 rebounds in a one-sided win by the Bullets back in 1974. The Wine & Gold’s all-time leader is the great Elmore Smith – who pulled down 24 boards to go with a game-high 32 points in a 17-point Cavaliers victory.
Connections
The Wizards TV analyst when Washington rolls in this evening is none other than former Cavalier, Drew Gooden, who spent part of four seasons with the Wine & Gold.
Gooden arrived in Cleveland in the summer of 2004 as part of one of the most meaningful trades in franchise history – traded to the Cavs along with Steven Hunter and an unknown second rounder named Anderson Varejao in exchange for a Tony Battie and a future second rounder (that turned out to be Martynas Andriuskevicius).
In 292 career contests, the durable for Jayhawk – who started at power forward for the Cavaliers first NBA Finals appearance in 2007 – averaged 11.9 points and 8.6 rebounds per.