Wizards vs Cavaliers Pick, Preview & Betting Odds For Friday, March 17th

Check out our free Wizards vs Cavaliers pick and preview for this NBA game in Cleveland. See who we like to win and cover the spread in this NBA matchup.

Wizards vs Cavaliers NBA Pick & Preview

Sport: NBA
Teams: Washington Wizards at Cleveland Cavaliers
Where: Cleveland at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
Date: Friday, March 17th
Betting Odds CLE -6, WAS +191 | CLE -236 O/U 220.0

The Wizards come into today’s matchup with an overall record of 32-37. So far, the team has gone 32-35-2 against the spread. In the teams past 3 games, their overall mark sits at 1-2. Washington is 1-2 vs the spread in these matchups.

The Wizards will look to keep things rolling, as they previously beat the Pistons by a score of 117-97. Heading into the game, they were 13 point favorites against the spread, giving them an ATS win. Washington played well enough in the second half to prevent the Pistons from making things interesting down the stretch, as they led by 16 going into halftime. Leading the team in scoring was Bradley Beal, as he contributed 36 points while hitting 86.7% of his shots.

The Cavaliers come into today’s matchup with an overall record of 44-28. So far, the team has gone 39-32-1 against the spread. In their previous 3 games, the Cavaliers are averaging 114 points per game while allowing 110. This has led to a record of 2-1.

Cleveland is trying to bounce back from a 118-109 loss to the 76ers. Going into this game, the team was 3 point underdogs on the spread, giving them an ATS loss. Cleveland let an opportunity for a win slip away as they held a lead going into the 2nd half of action. In the loss, Caris LeVert led the team in scoring with 24 points on a field goal percentage of 57.1%.

Head To Head Recap & Stats

In the most recent matchup between the two teams, the Cavaliers picked up the 117-107 win over the Wizards. The Cavaliers point margin of victory was enough to cover the spread as 3.5 point favorite. So far this season, the Cavaliers have a record of 2-0 vs the Wizards. Last year, the Wizards saw a drop in overall scoring when playing the Cavaliers, averaging 98.5 points per game. Like the Wizards, the Cavaliers scored at a rate below their season average, finishing with 98.75 points per game vs Washington. Over the last 5 head to head meetings, the Cavaliers have averaged 106 points per game compared to 99 for Washington. This has led to an ATS record of 3-2 for Cleveland. In these matchups, the teams have put together an over-under mark of 2-3. Combined, they averaged 205 points in these games.

Odds & Free Betting Analysis For This NBA Game

Through 69 games, Washington is averaging 113.0 points per game (21st). Coming into today’s game, the Wizards will be looking to improve their 3-point shooting numbers, as they are averaging just 11.2 made 3’s per game. If the Washington offense is going to turn things around, not only do they need to improve their outside shooting but they must do a better job protecting the ball. Currently, they are averaging 13.6 turnovers per game.

Against the Cavaliers, the Wizards will need a stronger defensive effort as they are ranked just 16th in points allowed.

Center Kristaps Porzingis currently leads the Wizards at 22.9 points per game. For the season, he is 47th in the NBA in usage rate and has taken 17.9% of the team’s field goal attempts. In addition to his scoring, Porzingis is averaging 8.5 boards and 2.6 assists per contest. In today’s game, he is facing off against the NBA’s 6th ranked defense at defending centers. Kyle Kuzma enters the game sitting second on the team in scoring. Through 62 games, he is averaging 21.2 and is 178th in the league in player efficiency rating.

This season, the Cleveland offense has had their problems scoring the ball as they are a below average unit at 112.1 points per game. When looking at the team’s pace of play, the Cavaliers are currently below the league average in possessions per game, averaging just 95.8 per contest. Although the Cavaliers have a current effective field goal percentage of 55.6%, their below average pace of play is a key factor behind their mediocre scoring numbers.

Against the Wizards, the Cavaliers will look to continue their strong defensive play. For the year, they are the 5th ranked unit at 105.67 points per game.

This season, the Cavaliers offense has primarily worked through Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland who are 1st and 2nd on the team in scoring. In his 60 games, Mitchell is 11th in the NBA at 27.5 points per game. So far, him and Garland have accounted for 43% of the team’s field goal attempts while combining to average 49.4 points per contest. In addition to sitting 2nd on the team in scoring, Darius Garland is grabbing 2.7 rebounds for Cleveland to go along with 7.8 assists.