Washington at Cleveland

Think DeShawn Stevenson is regretting his comment that LeBron was "overrated"? Think Gilbert Arenas is regretting saying that Washington "wanted Cleveland in the first round"? While they may not admit it, those comments were stupid. Why fire up your opponent? In game one, it became evident that the Cavs were fired up and probably remain so. James put up 32 and the Cavs held Washington to just 86 points. It was the Wizards' seventh straight playoff loss to Cleveland. If they couldn't back up their words in that game, why should things change here? We know about the zig-zag theory but in this one we see more of a zig-zig with Cleveland taking both of the first two. Washington is now 18-24 on the road while Cleveland is 28-14 at home, yet we see a line here that basically calls the game even. This line is a full basket less than the game one spread, after the Cavs won fairly decisively in that game. In the playoffs, as they showed last year, it appears the Cavs know what wins - defense. They clamped down and should do so again tonight. The reason Washington struggles vs. Cleveland during the playoffs is this. They aren't built for these low-scoring intense defensive-laden games. Under Eddie Jordan, this team is now 6-16 ATS on the road when the total is between 185 and 190. We see more of the same from a still motivated Cleveland team.