Cavs vs. Wizards preview: Can Darius Garland break through?

The Cavs look to continue their good start as they travel to Washington for their third game in four nights.

WHO: Cleveland Cavaliers (2:0) at Washington Wizards (0:1)

Where: Capital One Arena – Washington, DC

When: 7 p.m., Saturday, October 26th

TV: FanDuel Sports Network Ohio (formerly Bally Sports), NBA League Pass

line: Cavs -9.5

Predicted starting lineup for the Cavs: Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Dean Wade, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen

Cavs injury report: Max Strus – OUT (ankle), Emoni Bates – OUT (knee), JT Thor – OUT (two-way), Luke Travers – OUT (two-way)

Wizards expected starting lineup: Bub Carrington, Jordan Poole, Bilal Coulibaly, Kyle Kuzma, Alex Sar

Wizards injury report: Saddiq Bey – OUT (knee), Malcolm Brogdon – OUT (thumb), Bub Carrington – PROBABLE (ankle), Ja'Kobe Walter – OUT (shoulder)

Fear the sword will host a live stream watch party for select games this year reproduction. Join us how we react to the whole event.

What you should pay attention to

advantage in advance

The Cavs had a soft start to their schedule. They also competed against a smaller and/or inexperienced frontcourt in every game. This is no different against Washington.

Second overall pick Alex Sarr struggled in his first game against the Boston Celtics. He won't get a break as he and undersized power forward Kyle Kuzma face one of the league's biggest front lines with Allen, Mobley and Wade.

If the Cavs win this game on the road, as they should, it will be because they dominated the game.

Can Darius Garland break through?

Garland is playing better than the statistics indicate. He loves moving off the ball, playing at a faster pace and is much better at finding shooters off drives. However, that won't come through if the shots don't go through.

It looked like Garland was going to have a statement game against the Detroit Pistons on Saturday. He quickly scored nine points but failed because he couldn't make the shot fall. More importantly, the process he demonstrated remained good.

The Wizards aren't the toughest test, but you want to see a night where he's rewarded for his good play.