The Cleveland Cavaliers and Washington Wizards are locked in the No. 2 seed and No. 5 seed, respectively, in the Eastern Conference playoffs, meaning this game is nothing more than a tune-up for the postseason.
Projected Starting Lineups
Cleveland Cavaliers (52-29)
G Kyrie Irving – 22.0 ppg, 5.0 apg
G J.R. Smith – 12.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg
F LeBron James – 25.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 7.4 apg
F Kevin Love – 16.5 ppg, 9.9 rpg
C Timofey Mozgov– 10.5 ppg, 6.9 rpg
Washington Wizards (46-35)
G John Wall – 17.6 ppg, 10.0 apg
G Bradley Beal – 15.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg
F Otto Porter – 6.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg
F Drew Gooden – 5.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg
C Marcin Gortat – 12.2 ppg, 8.8 rpg
What to watch for:
Bench Production?
Both team's starters are expected to see extremely limited minutes - the Wizards are expected to hold out Paul Pierce and Nene - putting the game in the hands of the bench players. Whichever group is more productive will win the game for their team.
Prediction: Cavs win 103-90
Cavs head coach David Blatt has stressed the importance of maintaining momentum into the postseason, so I expect him to play his starters more than the Wizards will play theirs, giving Cleveland the win.
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