Cavaliers at Wizards
THE STORY: The two worst teams in the Eastern Conference meet at Verizon Center and the home team will be short-handed. Rookie John Wall was suspended one game by the league for fighting Wednesday night with Miami center Zydrunas Ilgauskas. The Cavs, the league’s worst team, need one more victory to assure they won’t finish tied for the worst mark in team history.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Fox Sports Ohio, Comcast
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (18-56): Washington will be without its top two scorers (Nick Young, John Wall) since Wall took a couple of elbows from Zydrunas Ilgauskas on Wednesday before finally fighting back. His closed-fisted punch earned him an ejection and a one-game suspension, costing the Wizards their second-leading scorer. Young is already out with a knee injury. Rookie Jordan Crawford will have to lead the Wizards in Wall’s absence, although Crawford was limping Thursday with a sore back. Fitting, considering he carried the team with a career-high 39 points against the Heat following Wall’s ejection. It’s the most points by a Washington rookie since Tom Gugliotta scored the same amount 19 years ago.
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (15-59): Cleveland was within a couple of seconds and six inches of its second winning streak this season, but Anthony Parker’s shot at the buzzer Wednesday was tipped by Charlotte’s Dominic McGuire just enough to keep it from falling. Still, the Cavs have looked like a different team with Baron Davis as the starting point guard. They stunned the Miami Heat on Tuesday and nearly upset the playoff-seeking Bobcats on Wednesday. Davis is averaging 14.1 points and 5.3 assists for the Cavs, who will again be without rookie forward Samardo Samuels. He has missed two games with a sprained right wrist.
WHO'S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Cleveland’s Anthony Parker is shooting 72 percent in his last two games (13 of 18). He has made his last six 3-pointers over that time. Ramon Sessions had 24 points off the bench in the loss to Charlotte. Washington’s Jordan Crawford is averaging 15.9 points since getting traded from Atlanta, nearly four times what he was averaging in limited time with the Hawks (4.2). Forward Yi Jianlian is shooting 27 percent (3 of 11) in his last two games.
KEY STATISTIC: The Cavs are 24th in the league in points allowed, averaging 104.7 per game. The Wizards are 25th, allowing 104.9.
SEASON SERIES: The series is tied 1-1. The two teams meet again on April 13 at Cleveland in the final game for both teams.
KEY INJURIES: CLEVELAND: C Semih Erden (shoulder); F Samardo Samuels (wrist). WASHINGTON: F Trevor Booker (foot); F Josh Howard (knee); F Rashard Lewis (knee); G Nick Young (knee).
LAST WORD: “This role has been great for me. It’s kind of like the first time in my career I’ve been given this responsibility and I’m really enjoying it.” – Cavs point guard Baron Davis, on his role as a mentor and veteran spokesman of the team.