Round 1: Washington Wizards vs Cleveland Cavaliers

 

In round 1 of the Eastern Conference playoffs, we have the 3^rd seed Wizards up against the 6^th seed Cleveland Cavaliers.  If I�m not mistaken that Cavaliers slid into the 6^th seed with a win on their last game of the season.  We have a contrasting style of play in this series, the Wizards are a high-powered offensive team with the likes of Devin Booker and Joel Embiid, while being surrounded by plenty of shooters.  On the other side of the contest, we have the cavaliers who are one of the best defensive teams in the whole league and have great continuity within the team, they play as one giant unit.  

 

The Predictions:

The Wizards came into the series as 88% favourites by the league voters compared to the cavaliers 12%.

 

Game 1: Cavaliers 69 @ Wizards 111

Game 1 was absolute dominance from the wizards, all guns blazing they came out the gate flying, and the game was burst open to an 18 point the lead at the half.  The cavaliers were constantly on the back foot and could never get into the game.  The wizards had a great distribution in this contest with 5 players hitting double digit points.

POTG: Devin Booker 22pts 4rebs 3asts

 

Game 2: Cavaliers 103 @ Wizards 75

Did these two flip systems between game 1 and 2? What a turn of events here!

The story of this one is how the cavaliers closed out, with a 30-7 quarter in the fourth, amazing.  Devin Booker and Joel Embiid were awfully quiet in this one, combining for 29 points on 27 shots.

POTG: Jarrett Allen 20pts 23rebs 2asts 10-11FG

 

Game 3: Wizards 79 @ Cavaliers 88

This is CLEVELAND BASKETBALL, muddy it up, make it hard to score and keep the game low scoring the whole way through.  In this game we saw the wizards without their golden boy Devin Booker for the first time, and as you�d expect they struggled to score and fill that void.  Meanwhile on the other side of the floor we get Andrew Wiggins exploding for 27 points leading the cavaliers to a 2-1 lead over the mighty wizards.

POTG: Alex Caruso 12pts 5rebs 11asts 5 steals

 

Game 4: Wizards 95 @ Cavaliers 104

In an all-important Game 4 we see the Wizards make a minor line-up change where they move Joel Embiid to the PF position and bring Tony Bradley into the starting line-up.  Embiid had a fantastic game where he scored 19pts and ripped down 15rebs while also dishing out 6 assists.  Ultimately it wasn�t enough as the wizards fall to the cavaliers by a narrow margin, once again off the heroics of Andrew Wiggins who exploded for a series high 33pts on 13-27 shootng from the field.  The cavs also had a nice helping hand from their bench, with 43 bench points in game 4.  Cavaliers lead the series 3-1!

POTG: Andrew Wiggins 33pts 13-27FG

 

 

Game 5: Cavaliers 109 @ Wizards 115

Game 5 was the highest scoring affair of the series so far; these are the types of games that the wizards want to get into.  The Wizards got a nice all-around game from their point guard in Derrick Rose, he came out in game 5 with 26 pts 4rebs and 8assists had he been slightly more efficient the margin in this one may have been bigger, he finished 10-26 from the field.  Joel Embiid also had a stellar game with 25pts and 15rebs.  The cavaliers also had some big games in this one with Allen going off for 24pts 14rebs and Al Horford going for 24pts 8 rebs.  Cavaliers lead 3-2

POTG: Joel Embiid 25pts 15rebs with 3blks on 10-15 shooting.

 

Game 6: Wizards 99 @ Cavaliers 91

In game 6 we have the wizards still fighting for their playoff life after surviving one elimination game already.  Derrick Rose leads the charge for the wizards once again with 26pts, while the wizards had 4 other players also contribute double digits in the points column.  The Twin towers of Embiid and Bradley combined for 30rebs and 6blks in the contest as well.  Unfortunately for the cavaliers only one player reached double digits in the scoring column, Andrew Wiggins went off for 29 but he was the only one to show up for them.  The Cavaliers had a 3-1 lead and now find themselves going on the road in a game 7 to move on to the second round.

POTG: Derrick Rose 26pts

 

GAME 7: Cavaliers 108 @ Wizards 92

The Wizards come into this one healthy with the return of Devin Booker.  However, the cavaliers stun the NSL and come away winners in game 7 by 16pts!!  The cavaliers pounded the paint in this one with 84 PIP to the wizards 52.  Andrew Wiggins got hot once again going for 32pts, all while the cavaliers golden boy Jarrett Allen exploded for 21pts 22rebs and 4 blks.  The wizards didn�t go down without a fight, Devin Booker put up a nice 27pts while his running mate Joel Embiid put up 20pts and 22rebs but ultimately it wasn�t enough to get past the cavaliers.

POTG: Jarret Allen 21pts 22rebs 4blks

 

Series Overview:

Cavaliers 4 � Wizards 3

The Wizards came into this series overwhelming favourites after finishing their season 3^rd in the east.  However, I think GM Josh knew he would have his work cut out for him as we all know GM Dylan is a 2k Savant and really knows how to maximise his players and roster as a whole.  Both teams had fantastic games in this series, and it was arguably the best series of the first round. 

 

 

The Cavaliers move on to face the Detroit Pistons in the second round, where they will likely be seen as the underdogs by the league at large but not by their GM.