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Eastern Conference action is set for Wednesday night with a matchup between the Washington Wizards (6-26, 16-16 ATS) and the Cleveland Cavaliers (18-15, 15-16-2 ATS). The Wizards are currently back in 14th in the conference, while the Cavaliers sit in the 7th spot. Washington is coming off a home loss to the Hawks, going down 130-126, but covered as 6.5-point underdogs. Meanwhile, Cleveland lost on the road to the new-look Raptors 124-121 as 2.5-point dogs. This is the first of four matchups between the Eastern Conference foes. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 EST from the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland.
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There is not much positive spin you can put on the Washington Wizards season so far, in fact they are lucky Detroit has been historically bad or the Wizards would draw more attention as the worst team in the league. Washington only has six wins on the season, barely ahead of the Spurs (5) and and Pistons (3). Washington has been competitive against the spread, covering in exactly half of their games. In their last game, the Wizards got a big game from Kyle Kuzma with 38 points in the near loss to Atlanta.
Most people figured Jordan Poole would be the leading scorer for Washington, but Kyle Kuzma is having a better season. Kuzma leads the team with 23.1 PPG to go with 6.2 RPG and 4.3 APG. Kuzma has not missed a game all season, and is coming off a 26-point game against Brooklyn, and the 38-point game against Atlanta. Kuzma is also the top shooter on the team with 2.5 makes from deep per game on 35.7% shooting. Poole is the second scorer on the team at 17.2 PPG, he has the lowest field goal percentage of all their top contributors at just 41.4% from the field. Tyus Jones starts at point guard and adds 12.6 PPG and a team high 5.5 APG, and Deni Avdija starts at the forward spot with 11.6 PPG.
Daniel Gafford is an athletic center in the middle, he adds 10.8 PPG and a team high 7.7 RPG. Their top contributors off the bench have been Corey Kispert at 11.6 PPG and Bilal Coulibaly at 8.6 PPG. The Wizards rank 25th in offensive efficiency and 28th in defensive efficiency according to dunksandthrees.com. The Wizards play at the fastest tempo in the league based on their pace of play.
Injury Report:
Questionable: Danilo Gallinari