Cavs @ Wizards Preview! Cleveland Cavaliers (4-7) @ Washington Wizards (4-6) Friday, Nov. 19, 7:00 EST MCI Center, Washington, D.C. TV: NBALP Previous Game Wizards 106 @ Hawks 97 Clippers 95 @ Cavaliers 103 Season Series November 8th, Wizards 98 @ Cavaliers 111 Head Coaches Paul Silas/Eddie Jordan Probable Starters Zydrunas Ilgauskas/Brendan Haywood Chris Mihm/Kwame Brown Darius Miles/Jarvis Hayes Ricky Davis/Larry Hughes LeBron James/Gilbert Arenas Injury Lists Cleveland Cavaliers Dajuan Wagner Michael Stewart Washington Wizards Jerry Stackhouse Mitchell Butler Notes Cleveland's starting power forward Carlos Boozer sprained his right ankle in Tuesday's win against the Clippers just 10 minutes into the game, he did not return and is likely a gametime decision. Washington's starting center Christian Laettner missed the Wizards last game against the Hawks with back spasms and is probably a gametime decision. Keys To The Game Cleveland - The key here is containing Gilbert Arenas. The Wizards love to use Gilbert in pick and roles and love to set him screens to get open shots, so proper double teams and switching will be very important. Force Larry Hughes to take jump shots with a hand in his face and don't allow him to get to the basket. Jarvis Hayes can flat out shoot, but does not like to take it to the basket in traffic, so it is simple, don't leave him open and he won't hurt you. Control the boards, play solid defense, and execute on the offensive end. Washington - Double Ilgauskas and don't let him get into an early groove. Box out as Cleveland is one of the better rebounding teams in the league. Set solid clean picks for Arenas and let him do his thing with the basketball. Hughes must attack the basket at every opportunity to try and get the Cavs into some early foul trouble. The King's Take The Cavs just had too much depth and athleticism for the Wizards to handle in their win on November 8th. Boozer's health can be a huge problem for the Cavs, though Chris Mihm has played amazing basketball this week and can fill in well if Carlos does not play. I just don't see the Wizards pulling this off unless Arenas has a huge game. Cavs win!
'Bron's having another nice game tonight, certainly winning the battle of the rookies. However Arenas is continuing his hot start, really starting to establish himself among the game's best point guards. Mihm's been nice off the bench again.
Wiz won 106-95 nice game for LeBron 10-18 28pts 7 assists 8 boards....Kwame had a nice game oif ur a wiz fan 15 pts...hopefully it isnt a flash he can build on it...game was full of nice dunks...
Game was not on in Cleveland Not having Boozer looked to have hurt the Cavs, as Mihm, Miles, Z, and Diop were all in foul trouble. The Cavs shot better than the Wiz, not really sure why things were not more close. Etan Thomas was the difference maker, putting up 18 and 10. Stay tuned for a full report.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Gilbert Arenas scored 25 points, Etan Thomas worked hard for a career-high 18 points and 10 rebounds, and the Washington Wizards kept LeBron James winless on the road with a 106-95 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night. James scored a career-high 28 points on 10-for-18 shooting with eight assists and seven rebounds, but Thomas was the biggest force in the game. He came off the bench to cap an eventful evening that started when he got rear-ended in a car accident on the way to the arena. Thomas wasn't hurt, but he showed little regard for his body as he flung himself around in the paint for loose balls and seven tough offensive rebounds. He and Ira Newble were assessed double technicals in the fourth quarter following an altercation that ended with Newble throwing the ball. Larry Hughes added 22 points for the Wizards, and Kwame Brown had 15 points and 10 rebounds in a rare quality game from the Washington frontcourt. The Wizards avenged a 111-98 loss at Cleveland on Nov. 8 -- the Cavaliers' first victory of the season after starting 0-5. Chris Mihm had 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who are 0-7 on the road this season and 0-28 since January of last season. The Cavaliers played without leading rebounder Carlos Boozer, who did not travel with the team after spraining his right ankle in Tuesday night's win over the Los Angeles Clippers. DeSagana Diop started for Boozer but got into early foul trouble and didn't play in the third quarter. The game was close until midway through the fourth, when Arenas hit a 3-pointer to put the Wizards ahead 89-82. The Thomas-Newble double technical followed, but it didn't slow down Thomas, who made four free throws and a fadeaway on the baseline as Washington slowly pulled away. James put on a show, including a perfect alley-oop pass to Ricky Davis and a spectacular reverse dunk on an alley-oop pass from Darius Miles in the first quarter. That basket, however, was followed by a three-minute Cavaliers drought in which the Wizards opened an 11-point lead. Jared Jeffries rammed home a flying, one-handed dunk to put the Wizards ahead by 19 in the second quarter, but the Cavaliers closed the half with a 22-8 run to pull to 54-49 at halftime. The Wizards were led by their frontcourt in the first half. Brendan Haywood, Brown and Thomas each scored eight points, and Washington had a 13-4 advantage in offensive rebounds and a 14-2 lead in second-chance points. Arenas made back-to-back 3-pointers to start an otherwise ragged third quarter. Davis' missed alley-oop dunk was the lowlight, and the Wizards took a 75-70 lead into the fourth.</div> Full Story Box Score
They play well at home, next step is just learning how to win on the road, tough task for the leagues youngest team.
