Free NBA Pick: Cavaliers vs. Wizards NBA Odds
Looking for Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Washington Wizards free NBA picks & NBA odds? NBA betting sees the Cavaliers taking on the Wizards on Thursday, December 30th, 2021 at Capital One Arena. Cappers Picks provides complimentary expert handicapping picks on all NBA basketball matchups so stay tuned for more FREE daily NBA hoops predictions like this Cavaliers Wizards matchup.
2021 NBA Handicapping
(20-14) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Washington Wizards (17-17)
Date: Thursday, December 30th
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Venue: Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C.
NBA Moneyline Odds: Cavaliers +125 | Wizards -133 (Bet Now!)
NBA Betting Odds: Wizards -2.5
NBA Betting Total: 213.5
Thursday, December 30th, finds the Cleveland Cavaliers facing the Washington Wizards for the third time this season. The squads split the prior matches with Washington winning November 10th (97-94) and Cleveland taking the December 3rd (116-101) contest.
Both teams played on Tuesday with the Wizards losing 112-119 to the Heat and the Cavaliers falling 104-108 to the Pelicans.
Last season, the squads played three times with the Wizards sweeping the regular-season series. The Wizards hold the all-time record having bested the Cavaliers in 117 of their 226 matches.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Losing the game on Tuesday cost the Cavaliers much more than the game as Ricky Rubio went down. Tests Wednesday confirmed he tore the same ACL he did in 2012.
Throughout this season I’ve touched on the Cinderella campaign the Cavaliers have experienced. Although they lost Collin Sexton for the season the truth was Koby Altman was actively shopping to trade him long before the injury.
Rubio and Kevin Love have proven to be the perfect vets for this Cavaliers team and although they both play a supporting role their presence and impact have been invaluable.
Cleveland also lost Darius Garland at least for a few games as he entered protocols on December 28th. When he returns his role will grow once again given the loss of Rubio.
Ed Davis, Cedi Osman. and Garland are questionable for Thursday, Lamar Stevens was upgraded to probable, Jarrett Allen was downgraded to doubtful and Dylan Windler is out indefinitely.
Washington Wizards
Speaking of luck the Wizards haven’t had much of it lately as Bradley Beal seemed to just rediscover his shooting rhythm and was on a hot streak then boom – he entered protocols.
Additionally, the Wizards registered their first consecutive wins since the end of November and immediately after the team got hit hard by protocols. That lead to the two wins (Jazz/ Knicks) being followed by two consecutive losses to the 76ers and Heat.
Talk about bad luck, almost every injury report this season has listed Rui Hachimura as questionable while he ramped up his conditioning efforts to return. That date was meant to be this week and then he tested positive entering protocols.
He joins seven teammates with three questionable to return Thursday (Bradley Beal, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Anthony Gill) while Montrezl Harrell, Raul Neto, Aaron Holiday, and Hachimura were all downgraded to out.
Thomas Bryant (knee) is out indefinitely.
NBA Betting Trends:
- The Cavaliers are 15-2 ATS in their last 17 games.
- The Wizards are 5-12-1 ATS in their last 18 games.
- The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Cleveland’s last 7 games.
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Washington’s last 5 games.
Free Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Washington Wizards NBA Prediction:
The Cavaliers possess the 12th ranked offense (109.8), second-ranked defense (103.4), and fourth-best (+6.4) net differential. In contrast, the Wizards rank 22nd (107.8), 23rd (110.7), and 23rd (minus -2.9) respectively.
While the talk all season has focused on the Cavs’ massive frontcourt and playing essentially three 7′ together now the loss of Rubio and already not having Sexton is going to shift the focus to the thin backcourt.
Meanwhile, the Wizards and Beal have long-term decisions to make and it begs the question of whether the Cavs and Wiz could partner to get a deal done that would make everyone happy.
In the interim, they’ll face each other Thursday with the Wizards having a healthier roster and therefore a better chance at winning.
4* Free NBA Betting Pick: Wizards -2.5
If you’re looking for more NBA picks like this Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Washington Wizards matchup we’ll be providing 4* free NBA predictions on the blog during the entire NBA season, and check out our Experts for guaranteed premium & free NBA predictions!
Register here for a FREE NBA Betting Account Now for Daily Free Picks & More Special Offers!