Playoff Preview: (4) Cavaliers v. (5) Wizards (First Round)

Meeting with the Cavaliers for the third time in Round 1 of the playoffs, the Wizards hope the third time is the charm.

Playoff Preview: Cavaliers Roster

The Cleveland Cavaliers experienced a rocky start to the 2007-08 season due Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic’s contract holdouts. However, the Cavaliers beat the annual NBA trade deadline to acquire Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, and a future second-round draft pick from the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Cedric Simmons, and Shannon Brown. The Cleveland Cavaliers received Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West from the Seattle Supersonics in exchange for Ira Newble, Donyell Marshall, and Adrian Griffin from the Chicago Bulls. Take a look at the Cleveland Cavaliers depth chart:

• Point Guard: Delonte West, Damon Jones, Eric Snow
• Shooting Guard: Devin Brown, Daniel Gibson, Sasha Pavlovic (injured)
• Small Forward: LeBron James, Wally Szczerbiak
• Power Forward: Ben Wallace, Joe Smith
• Center: Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Anderson Varejao, Dwayne Jones

Playoff Preview: Cavaliers Season

Before the Cleveland Cavaliers’ blockbuster trade on February 21, the Cleveland Cavaliers hovered around .500 basketball from November until mid-January. A then-disgruntled All-Star forward LeBron James made it clear he needed help on the scoring end and was frustrated about not getting any. LeBron finally got the trade he’d been asking for, which filled many of the holes on the Cleveland Cavaliers roster. Delonte West brought toughness, defense, rebounding, shot blocking, and more of the intangibles needed at the guard position, while Ben Wallace helped to bolster a once-limited front court with Zydrunas Ilgauskas and LeBron James. Wally Szczerbiak could provide some scoring from the outside, especially when teams double LeBron James.

As LeBron James continues to improve his all-around game – averaging about 30 points per game, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists – King James is making a solid case for the MVP crown against the likes of Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, and Chris Paul. Although the Cleveland Cavaliers could not reach the 50-win mark like they did last season, the Cavaliers have locked up the fourth seed and home-court advantage in the first-round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Now, the Cleveland Cavaliers must go through the Washington Wizards to get back to the NBA Finals, where they were swept by the San Antonio Spurs 4-0.

Playoff Preview: Wizards Roster

The Washington Wizards roster remained largely unchanged from the 2006-07 season – minus the services of free agents Jarvis Hayes, Calvin Booth, and Michael Ruffin while signing draft picks Oleksiy Pecherov (2006) and Nick Young and Dominic McGuire (2007). However, the Wizards suffered a series of injuries to Etan Thomas, Gilbert Arenas, and Caron Butler. Take a look at the Washington Wizards depth chart:

• Point Guard: Antonio Daniels, Roger Mason, Gilbert Arenas
• Shooting Guard: DeShawn Stevenson, Nick Young
• Small Forward: Caron Butler, Dominic McGuire
• Power Forward: Antawn Jamison, Darius Songaila, Oleksiy Pecherov
• Center: Brendan Haywood, Andray Blatche, Etan Thomas

Playoff Preview: Wizards Season
The Washington Wizards season has been a rollercoaster ride filled with the ups of emerging stars and the downs of persistent injuries – especially to Gilbert Arenas who underwent his second knee surgery in as many years. The good news was that Caron Butler was truly coming into his own, shouldering the offensive load as the Wizards’ go-to-guy and an eventual 2008 NBA All Star. However, Caron Butler suffered a hip injury at midseason that kept him sidelined for 20 games. Gilbert Arenas missed 66 games this season before returning to the court on April 2, 2008, and playing limited minutes in the final eight games of the regular NBA season. Despite all of the constant injuries, the Washington Wizards maintained pace in a relatively weak Eastern Conference and have locked up the fifth seed in the NBA playoffs – setting up another series between the Washington Wizards and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs.

Playoff Preview: Head-to-Head

Over the last few years, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Washington Wizards have fostered a budding rivalry in both the regular season and in the playoffs. This season, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Washington Wizards have split the four regular-season games at 2-2. What’s more, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Washington Wizards will meet in the first round of the playoffs for the third straight season, and the Washington Wizards hope that the third time is really the charm to finally move past the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Expect a tight match up between the No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers and the No. 5 Washington Wizards. If the trend continues, the Cleveland Cavaliers should have no trouble ousting the Washington Wizards from the first round like they’ve done twice before – once in a four-game sweep and in six games the year before. With the Cavaliers’ dangerous front court spearheading the charge and LeBron James continuing to put up gaudy numbers, the Cleveland Cavaliers have a good shot at returning to the NBA Finals in 2008.

Playoff Preview: Schedule

Home court advantage should play a big role in this series, as the Cleveland Cavaliers open up their Eastern Conference title defense at home against the visiting Washington Wizards.