3rd Quarter Report
After a tough defeat on the road their last time out, the Cavaliers look much better today on their home court. They have jumped out to an 86-80 lead against the Wizards.
If the Cavaliers keep playing like this, they’ll bump their record up to 22-4 in no time. On the other hand, the Wizards will have to make do with a 3-20 record unless they turn things around (and fast).
Who’s Playing
Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers
Current Records: Washington 3-19, Cleveland 21-4
How To Watch
- When: Friday, December 13, 2024 at 7 p.m. ET
- Where: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse — Cleveland, Ohio
- TV: FanDuel SN – Ohio
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online streaming: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket Cost: $8.14
What to Know
The Cavaliers will be playing the full four quarters on Friday, but they’re expected to have things wrapped up well before that. Armed with a few days’ rest, they will face off against the Washington Wizards at 7:00 p.m. ET at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The timing is sure in the Cavaliers’ favor as the team sits on three straight wins at home while the Wizards have been banged up by nine consecutive losses on the road.
The Cavaliers are probably headed into the match with a chip on their shoulder considering the Heat just ended the team’s four-game winning streak on Sunday. They fell 122-113 to Miami.
Meanwhile, the oddsmakers predicted a rough matchup for the Wizards on Sunday and boy were they right. They suffered a painful 140-112 loss at the hands of the Grizzlies. Washington was down 111-82 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.
Even though they lost, the Wizards smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 20 offensive rebounds. That’s a new trend for them: they were averaging 9.4 offensive rebounds per game earlier this season, but in their last five games they’ve averaged 13.6.
Cleveland’s defeat dropped their record down to 21-4. As for Washington, their loss dropped their record down to 3-19.
This contest is shaping up to be a blowout: The Cavaliers have been crazy accurate this season, having drained 50.7% of their field goals per game (they’re ranked first in field goal percentage overall). It’s a different story for the Wizards, though, as they’ve only made 44% of theirs this season. Given the Cavaliers’ sizable advantage in that area, the Wizards will need to find a way to close that gap.
The Cavaliers took their win against the Wizards when the teams last played last Tuesday by a conclusive 118-87. Do the Cavaliers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Wizards turn the tables on them? We’ll have the answer soon enough.
Odds
Cleveland is a big 17-point favorite against Washington, according to the latest NBA odds.
The oddsmakers were right in line with the betting community on this one, as the game opened as a 17-point spread, and stayed right there.
The over/under is 232 points.
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Series History
Cleveland has won all of the games they’ve played against Washington in the last 2 years.
- Dec 03, 2024 – Cleveland 118 vs. Washington 87
- Oct 26, 2024 – Cleveland 135 vs. Washington 116
- Feb 25, 2024 – Cleveland 114 vs. Washington 105
- Feb 07, 2024 – Cleveland 114 vs. Washington 106
- Jan 05, 2024 – Cleveland 114 vs. Washington 90
- Jan 03, 2024 – Cleveland 140 vs. Washington 101
- Mar 17, 2023 – Cleveland 117 vs. Washington 94
- Feb 06, 2023 – Cleveland 114 vs. Washington 91
- Oct 23, 2022 – Cleveland 117 vs. Washington 107
- Feb 26, 2022 – Cleveland 92 vs. Washington 86
sentence: “The cat ran quickly across the street.”
Rewritten sentence: “Quickly, the cat dashed across the street.”