Sunday's loss to Washington was the second of two straight and left a sky-is-falling narrative around Cleveland until it pulled out a 100-96 win over the Pacers at home on Monday.

USA Today Images

Washington Wizards at Cleveland Cavaliers (-8.5, 208)

The Cleveland Cavaliers endured one of their most embarrassing performances of the season last weekend at Washington and will get a chance for some revenge when they host the Wizards on Friday. The Cavaliers gave LeBron James a day off to rest at Washington on Sunday and fell behind by as much as 30 points in a 113-99 loss.

That loss to Washington was the second of two straight and left a sky-is-falling narrative around Cleveland until it pulled out a 100-96 win over the Indiana Pacers at home on Monday and got a few days off to practice and work out the kinks. “You have to be able to adjust no matter what type of game or situation that will be going on,” James told reporters after Monday’s win. “And we’re a team that, we put ourselves in dark spots and we have to build our way out of them.” The Wizards are working out of their own dark spot with four straight wins that have brought them to .500 for the first time since Jan. 15. Washington is tied for ninth place in the East, a half-game behind eighth-place Detroit, and began a stretch of five of six on the road with a 104-98 win at Minnesota on Wednesday.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN, CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington), FSN Ohio (Cleveland)

LINE HISTORY: The Cavaliers opened as 8-point home faves and that line quickly moved up to 8.5. The total opened at 208.5 and made a slight jump to 209.

INJURY REPORT:

Wizards – PG G. Neal (out Friday, leg).

Cavaliers – PG M. Williams (out Friday, shoulder).

COVERS POWER RANKINGS: Wizards (-1.6) - Cavaliers (-8.5) + home court = Cavaliers -10

WHAT SHARPS SAY: "Rest assured, the Cavs have had this game circled ever since they fell, 113-99, at Washington five days ago with Lebron James voluntarily watching the game on the pines. Look for the Cavs to extend their mark to 7-0 ATS in games with three or more days of rest tonight." - Covers Expert Marc Lawrence.

WHAT BOOKS SAY: "The Cavs got absolutely smashed by the Wizards last weekend without LeBron James in the lineup and I expect the Cavs to exact some revenge with LeBron on the floor this time around. We opened the Cavs as -8.5 point faves at home." - Michael Stewart of CarbonGaming.ag.

DANCE TEAM WAR:

ABOUT THE WIZARDS (30-30, 32-28 ATS, 31-27-2 O/U): Washington is 7-2 since the All-Star break to get back into the race in the East, where the Nos. 5-10 teams are separated by only 2 1/2 games. The Wizards are getting strong contributions from John Wall and Bradley Beal, and got another offensive threat back recently in veteran guard Alan Anderson, who played just his fourth game on Wednesday after dealing with ankle surgery. “We can’t just rely on our starting five to will us to a win every night,” Anderson, who scored 18 points in 21 minutes off the bench on Wednesday, told the Washington Post. “It’s got to be all 12, 13 guys, whoever’s suited up to go out there and contribute.”

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (42-17, 25-31-3 ATS, 28-31 O/U): James took some time away from Cleveland and worked out in Miami with former teammate Dwyane Wade this week, and the Cavaliers have been aggressive in making sure James gets the proper rest and treatment necessary to keep him at the top of his game deep into June. Last weekend that meant holding him out against Washington, and guard J.R. Smith accused his teammates of a “lack of energy” in the big loss. James certainly looked refreshed against the Pacers on Monday, going for 33 points on 14-of-22 shooting in the win.

TRENDS:

* Wizards are 4-0 ATS in the last 4 meetings.
* Cavaliers are 1-7-1 ATS in their last 9 vs. Eastern Conference.
* Under is 5-1 in Wizards last 6 Friday games.
* Under is 4-0 in Cavaliers last 4 games playing on 3 or more days rest.

COVERS CONSENSUS: The public is giving Cleveland the edge at home against an underachieving Wizards squad with 56 percent of wagers coming in on the Cavaliers. As for the total, the public is pounding the Over at a 69 percent clip.

"); h = d.getElementById(tid); h.parentNode.insertBefore(s, h); })(document);

Top 10 NO deposit Bonus offers @

Read More... [Source: Covers.com: NBA News and Stories]