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Key: Home Cookin'
After dropping their previous six, the Cavaliers got back into the win column on Sunday afternoon in Chicago, winning a white-knuckle affair to avoid the season sweep.
That contest in the Windy City also marks the end of a rough January road stretch that saw the Wine & Gold play eight of their 14 games away from The Q – including a six-game, 11-day West Coast trip. Cleveland will now play just three road games between today and March 5.
On Sunday afternoon, the Cavaliers and Bulls went toe-to-toe for all 48 in a matchup that featured 14 ties and 23 lead-changes. The Wine & Gold finally prevailed on Alec Burks' short jumper with 17 seconds to play, giving Cleveland its fifth road win of the season.
The shorthanded Wizards – who come into tonight’s matchup minus John Wall, Markieff Morris and Dwight Howard -- had won five of their previous seven before stumbling against the Spurs on Sunday night – getting blown out in the second half and falling for the 19th consecutive time in San Antonio.
The Cavs and Wizards have split their first two meetings this season – with Washington blowing out the Cavs by 24 in mid-November before falling by 15 in early December at The Q.
The season series wraps up the next time Cleveland hits the road – on February 8 in D.C.
Key: Beal's Streak
The Wizards have been symbolized by their All-Star guard duo over the past several seasons, but that combo has been halved since John Wall underwent season-ending Achilles surgery in late December.
The other half of that combination is still going strong – with Bradley Beal leading Washington in scoring and angling for his second straight All-Star appearance.
The seventh-year man from Florida has scored at least 20 points in 39 of the 49 games he’s appeared in, and might be playing even better ball with Wall on the shelf – averaging 27.4 points per in his absence, topping the 30-point plateau four times in that span and posting a monster 43-point, 15-rebound, 10-assist effort in a loss to Toronto in mid-January.
Beal has tallied 20-plus in both meetings against Cleveland this season, including a team-high 27 points in Washington’s recent loss at The Q.
Alec Burks – coming off his game-winning effort against Chicago – will likely draw that assignment on Tuesday night.
On Sunday afternoon, the eighth-year man tied for the team lead with 18 points – his 18th occasion netting double-figures since arriving in Cleveland, including each of his last three outings, averaging 13.7 points on 50 percent shooting from long-range over that span.
Key: The Force is With Him
After losing to Chicago on MLK Day at The Q, Cedi Osman looked like a man low on confidence. Just over one week later, the Cavs sophomore forward looks completely re-energized.
On Sunday afternoon, Osman posted his third straight double-figure outing, netting 17 points and eight boards on 6-for-17 shooting in the win over the Bulls.
Sunday’s effort comes on the heels of back-to-back contests of 20-plus – reaching his career-high last Wednesday night in Boston and topping it two nights later against Miami at The Q.
After finishing with eight points and zero boards in the Monday afternoon loss to Chicago, the young Cedi has averaged 23.7 points and 6.7 boards over his next three, shooting 52 percent from the floor and 48 percent from deep over that stretch.
On Tuesday night, he’ll be very familiar with his opponent, facing off against former Cavalier Jeff Green, who was Cedi’s main mentor during his rookie season.
The steady Green is having another rock-solid season, this time with his hometown Wizards, and he comes into the contest riding a nice three-game wave as well – averaging 18.0 points per over that span, shooting 51 percent from the floor and 52 percent from beyond the arc.
Key: Sophomore Scrum
As he continues to pile up starts while Tristan Thompson recovers from a foot injury and Larry Nance Jr. rounds himself back into shape, sophomore big man Ante Zizic continues to impress.
On Sunday afternoon in Chicago, Zizic failed to score in double-figures for just the second time in his last 10 games, but he did manage to grab a career-high and team-best 14 boards in the victory.
Over that 10-game stretch, the Croatian sensation is averaging 13.3 points and 8.0 rebounds, shooting 58 percent from the floor and .794 from the stripe.
In his two years in the league, Big Z has combined for exactly four points against the Wizards, seeing very limited action in two games and getting a DNP in four others.
On Tuesday night, he’ll lock horns with fellow sophomore Thomas Bryant, who made his first career start for Washington in late November and – with injuries piling up in the middle for the Wizards – has been entrenched there ever since.
As a starter, the former Indiana standout has tallied six double-doubles, including a 15-point, 10-rebound effort on Sunday night in San Antonio. Bryant has doubled Ante’s production in head-to-head meetings – having scored a total of eight points in two seasons against the Cavaliers.
The two young bigs have a chance to get acquainted on Tuesday night at The Q.
Key: Cosmic Subs
The Cavaliers bench had been outdone in back-to-back games last week – dominated by both Boston and Miami. But the second unit bounced back in a big way on Sunday afternoon in Chicago, with Jordan Clarkson and Matthew Dellavedova leading the way in the victory.
Clarkson – the league’s third-ranked bench scorer at 16.5 ppg – finished with 18 points, connecting on 8-of-11 shots to go with seven boards and a team-high six assists in just under 22 minutes of work.
Delly was big on both ends in the win – seeing the lion’s share of minutes down the stretch, adding 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting, going 4-of-4 from the stripe and adding four boards and five assists in 22 productive minutes off the bench.
Larry Nance Jr. went scoreless with five boards as he continues to work himself back into game-shape after missing eight games with a knee injury.
Deng Adel, who inked a two-way deal last week, came in and canned a pair of big triples for Cleveland in his longest run to date.
Washington’s main threat off the bench these days is Otto Porter Jr., who’s been in a reserve role since returning from a quad injury on January 2. Porter’s been effective in that role, having topped the 20-point mark in four of his 12 appearances with the second unit.