Washington's rivalry with Cleveland alive more than ever

Ben Wallace and Andray Blatche battle over the opening-tip
(George V. Panagakos).

The sold-out Verizon Center, all 20,173 seats, erupted with 6:33 to go in the fourth quarter when Cleveland Cavaliers Head Coach Mike Brown was tossed from the arena to the tune of "Hit the Road, Jack," and got even louder as LeBron James put his hands to his face in anguish and disgust.

Yep, the rivalry between the Washington Wizards and the Cleveland Cavaliers is alive and kicking, maybe even more than ever.  It's a rivalry three years in the making, but is it the best in the NBA?

Questionable.  I have to maintain the Lakers/Celtics rivalry in terms of historic rivalries, but right now, you have to put the Wiz/Cavs rivalry up there at number one (if not only because of the season series, which gives them more chances to play against each other).

The Wizards and Cavs won't meet up again until April, and I imagine people will be talking about Sunday's game all the way up until then.  On Thursday, April 2nd, the Wizards will host the Cavs a second time, followed by the fourth and final game of the season series back in Cleveland on Wednesday, April 8th.

Etan Thomas and Anderson Varejao sport some of the best
hair styles the league has to offer (George V. Panagakos).

With the Cavs put away for now, the Wizards are looking ahead toward the Orlando Magic, who lead the Southeastern Division with a 26-8 record.  Tomorrow's 7:00 p.m. ET game will be the third of four between the Wizards and the Magic this season, and in the two meetings prior, the Wizards have ended up with the short straw.

Orlando's Dwight Howard is having an amazing season.  I love what he represents for the NBA; he has all the skills and size to replicate Shaq, without any of the confusing post-game and off the court banter and nonsense.  Much respect.

What can the Wizards do differently, then, to limit this Shaq-wannabe, insane number-posting guy, let alone his three-point trigger happy teammates?

It might start with Dominic McGuire.  Yep, it has taken me awhile, but I'm starting with the man.  Don't get me wrong, the Wizards will still need some Juan Dixon, Etan Thomas, and maybe even a bit of JaVale McGee defense off the bench, but what Dom does against Orlando's three-point shooters is more important than whether Dwight plays well or not in my opinion.  You can double in the post, but you're not going to double Rashard Lewis or Hedo Turkoglu at the perimeter.  One guy has to keep strides on defense, and I'm going to give that obligation to McGuire.

The Verizon Center looks like this when all 20,173 seats are full
and the game is on the line (George V. Panagakos).

The Wizards absolutely killed the crabby Cavs (happy, Tony?) on rebounds Sunday, and they're not going to have it as easy against Orlando.  There's also the small matter of the Wizards being 0-7 against their division (once they win in their division I'll update the division standings again).

But if the Wizards beat Orlando for just their second set of back-to-back wins on the season, Washington could make a bit of a run.  Next up is Toronto, Chicago, Charlotte, and then Milwaukee.  Toronto will still be tough, I mean, Chris Bosh is having one heck of a season as well, but all four teams are teams the Wizards can without a question beat.

Caron Butler and the Wizards have a goal of reaching at least .500 by the end of the season, and a 6-0 streak would put the Wizards at 12-25 (.324).  It's going to be tough, but if the whole team wants it, and Gilbert Arenas comes back sometime between tomorrow (his birthday) and the end of January, the Wizards might still have time to pull out the underdog story of the year.


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