Game 12: Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers | November 20th, 2013 | 7 PM [EST]

[Dr. Gymbo]

(4-7)​

vs.

(3-7)

Date: November 20th, 2013
Where: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH
Time: 7:00 pm [EST]

[video=youtube;0FUv1eT1aTc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FUv1eT1aTc[/video]

Watch on Fox Sports Ohio with:

Coaches​

Mike Brown

vs.

Randy Wittman​

Presumed Starting Lineups (Updated 11/19/13 @ 9:30 PM EST)​

vs

Benches​

Jarrett Jack

Dion Waiters - Props to Stereo for making this, I had to use it :chuckles:

Alonzo Gee

Anthony Bennett

Anderson Varejao

vs

Garrett Temple

Glen Rice, Jr.

Trevor Ariza

Jan Vesely

Kevin Seraphin​

Game Preview:

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been a respectable team at home so far this season, which was anything but the case in 2012-13.

The Cavaliers, who went 14-27 in Cleveland last season, will try for their fourth win in five home games Wednesday night against the Washington Wizards.

The Cavs (4-7) snapped a three-game skid Saturday with a 103-96 overtime win at Washington. The victory came amid reports of a physical confrontation during a players-only meeting after last Wednesday's loss in Minnesota.

Guard Dion Waiters returned to practice Monday after missing the last two games with flu-like symptoms and insisted his absence was related strictly to his illness.

"We got it off our chests," Waiters said. "I think we needed it and we can move forward. We're men. Nobody got into no altercations or anything like that. We got everything off our chests that we needed. That's that. All the other rumors, man, are rumors. Don't believe it. It's not true. "We talked. Everybody talked. Nobody put their hands on nobody."

Waiters is expected to play against the Wizards. Before the illness, he started each of the Cavaliers' nine games and averaged 13.3 points on 39.8 percent shooting.

He hasn't been the only Cavs guard struggling to find his shot. Kyrie Irving is shooting 39.5 percent, though he broke out of his slump by tying a career high with 41 points on 14-for-28 shooting against the Wizards. He's averaging 29.0 points in the four healthy games he's played in his career against Washington. He's been wearing a protective mask after suffering a broken nose in the loss to the Timberwolves.

"Shots were falling with the mask on," Irving said. "I have to wear it for two more weeks. No excuses. Shots were falling."

Overall, shots haven't been falling for the Cavs. They're connecting on 41.1 percent from the floor this year, though they did finish strong by coming back from a 15-point deficit against the Wizards.

"We were down 15. We could have easily quit," said coach Mike Brown, who continues to experiment with the lineup. "We're kind of discombobulated. Andrew (Bynum) hadn't practiced and threw him out there and started him. Not one unit out there knew anything that we were doing. I didn't know what we were doing. Threw Earl (Clark) in at the four. Earl doesn't know what he's doing at the four. We just kind of made it up on the fly."

The short-handed Wizards (3-7) have also been forced to tinker, though they snapped a four-game losing streak with Tuesday's 104-100 home win over Minnesota.

Trevor Ariza (strained hamstring) missed his second straight game, while Al Harrington (sore knee) has been out for three. Otto Porter Jr. also remains inactive with a right hip flexor injury.

Bradley Beal scored 25 points and John Wall had 14 with a career high-tying 16 assists. Forward Martell Webster made his second straight start and hit 5 of 10 from 3-point range on his way to 17 points.

The Wizards also held a players-only meeting before Tuesday morning's shootaround. "After halftime I was going to have another one," coach Randy Wittman joked. "I wasn't going to go in there. I'll do whatever it takes for a win, trust me."

Washington shot a season-high 48.2 percent and hit all 15 of its free throws to rally from 16 points down.

The Cavs have won four in a row over the Wizards.

What to Watch For:

1. Coach Brown's Starting Lineup: Brown has said that his lineup is still fluid and is a work in progress. He's admitted that he is still experimenting and attempting to find a group he can rely on for long stretches of the game. With Andrew Bynum's gradual ease in and out of the line-up as he attempts to regain some semblance of his former self, the starting lineup will likely be fluid for most of the season. But more importantly, the backcourt rotations are a mess right now. Will Dion be moved to the bench? If so, who will start in his place? The key cogs to smoothing out the confusion at the SG and SF spots are Dion Waiters and Jarrett Jack. Will Brown focus more on the defensive potential out of his SF, or does he care more about the flow of his other players? A starting backcourt of Kyrie Irving, Jarrett Jack, and C.J. Miles offers up a bit more offensive punch given Miles' early efforts. This would leave Dion capable of dominating the ball off of the bench and terrorizing second units.

2. Dion Waiters: Dion has been on a bit of a roller-coaster ride so far this season. He is still searching for his maximum role and Coach Brown is trying to fit him the best he can. Does bringing him off the bench in a role of super sub make better use of his talents? Or will there be more friction as Dion attempts to work next to Jack? Can Dion play both guard positions in differing roles throughout the game? This team will only go as far as its guard rotations. The three: Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, and Jarrett Jack all need to continue to develop chemistry and determine their role within the scheme of the team and with each other in order for this team to grow and advance.

3. Washington's Backcourt Duo: Bradley Beal has been on a tear this season. Now that he is growing more comfortable playing next to point guard John Wall, he is an extremely dangerous weapon. With the interior size combination of Nene and Gortat, perimeter defenders will need to be cognizant of Beal and his quick, smooth release from deep. Martell Webster has also been effective in the last two games, starting in place of Trevor Ariza and has been able to further stretch the field and offer up more space for the Wall-Beal duo to operate. Both guards are also pretty good rebounders as well, necessitating a total team rebounding effort.

4. The Steaming, Stinking Small Forward Position: As discussed on this forum ad nauseum, this team is not well constructed right now. There seems to be overlap and log-jamming of multiple positions on the team. There's no denying that the lack of a reliable, consistent SF on this team has complicating the other issues that this team faces. The lack of cohesion and identity right now is compounded by the rotating door at SF. Can Alonzo Gee or Earl Clark step up and improve beyond where he is? I'm skeptical. Might Coach Brown turn to C.J. Miles?

It's Game Time!

[video=youtube;pEevo7Vo-uk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEevo7Vo-uk[/video]

Go Cavs!!!​

 

[Vlad]

Re: Game 12: Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers | November 20th, 2013 | 7 PM [E

Going to the game from Columbus. Any recommendations on a restaurant to go to after the game? I'm planning on going to Melt but if there is anything good closer to the Q it would be better.

 

[DatDudeZ3]

Re: Game 12: Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers | November 20th, 2013 | 7 PM [E

Going to the game from Columbus. Any recommendations on a restaurant to go to after the game? I'm planning on going to Melt but if there is anything good closer to the Q it would be better.

Corner Alley on 4th street, right down the street from the Q, literally.

 

[wuck]

Re: Game 12: Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers | November 20th, 2013 | 7 PM [E

Going to the game from Columbus. Any recommendations on a restaurant to go to after the game? I'm planning on going to Melt but if there is anything good closer to the Q it would be better.

Some of the fancier places close at 10pm.

Melt's kitchen stays open until 11 midweek, plus locations are convenient depending on where you're driving after the game. FYI, Melt just opened a branch in Columbus (840 North High Street in the Short North District).

 

[Daniel89]

Re: Game 12: Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers | November 20th, 2013 | 7 PM [E

A win would put us back into a playoff spot, feels good to be in the Eastern conference
I know it's early in the season, but right now the East has 7 teams that won less than 40% of their games, the West has only 2 of such teams...

 

[Omar The Horse]

Re: Game 12: Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers | November 20th, 2013 | 7 PM [E

Cavs by 40

 

[BigErieCavsFan]

Re: Game 12: Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers | November 20th, 2013 | 7 PM [E

It's about time we play again. Seems like these 3 days took a week...

 

[SixPACK]

Re: Game 12: Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers | November 20th, 2013 | 7 PM [E

If you don't want to park in a garage, I would recommend MVP Valet on East 4th, off Prospect. Believe it's only $15. Know a manager there and the kids only expect a $2-3 tip, so you don't have to shell out big bucks. Plus it's pretty close to the highway entrance (last game I was there Nov. 4th, on-ramp was closed, but the detour only took ~5min) There are a bunch of restaurants around there (right next to Lola, which closes at 10) I would look into how late you can keep your car there, I am assuming midnight.

Flannery's serves food till midnight. Panini's is down the street on Prospect. Corner Alley, don't know how long they serve food. Jimmy Johns too, if you just want to have a quick sub for the ride home.

EDIT: Forget to mention, it is only a 5min walk to the Casino/stadium. So if you leave pretty close to game time, you should be out of there before the main bulk of the crowd gets on the main roads.

 

[CardiacCavs]

Re: Game 12: Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers | November 20th, 2013 | 7 PM [E

We've had a few days to practice and hopefully get things in order, and we're playing at home which is always a nice boost. I'd expect us to come out and play well tonight.

 

[AuxiliaryPie]

Re: Game 12: Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers | November 20th, 2013 | 7 PM [E

its about time, lets go Cavs!!

that dion photoshop is funny as shit. ever since i heard him say "ayee!!" 3 times for one lay up it just makes me laugh every time i see it

 

[Fuggles]

Re: Game 12: Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers | November 20th, 2013 | 7 PM [E

Hopefully this is the day we start seeing a solid rotation with the proper minutes going to the players that deserve them.

alternate title "How Mr.Potatohead got his groove back"

 

[Zen]

Re: Game 12: Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers | November 20th, 2013 | 7 PM [E

Potential letdown game from Wiz after an emotional win over the wolves at home last night (watched the game on league pass).

Wall might be fired up after being out-dueled by Kyrie last week. Cavs -3 seems like a friendly line against a team that we just beat coming in on a back to back. However, with the lineup changes on the Cavs side there are a lot of questions. Should be fun.

 

[B Mac]

Re: Game 12: Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers | November 20th, 2013 | 7 PM [E

Think there will be any bad blood between Jack and Beal after the way the last game ended?

 

[Fuggles]

Re: Game 12: Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers | November 20th, 2013 | 7 PM [E

Think there will be any bad blood between Jack and Beal after the way the last game ended?

I hope.

Jack needs some motivation.

 

[BimboColesHair]

Re: Game 12: Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers | November 20th, 2013 | 7 PM [E

Think there will be any bad blood between Jack and Beal after the way the last game ended?

“The benches sort of blew things out of proportion,” Beal said afterward. “Me and Jack are cool.”

No