Irving and Waiters look to show who has the better backcourt

After captivating off-seasons for both of these teams, there are two things that have remained constant for both the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Washington Wizards: the backcourts. Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiter are downsizing their roles for newer players in Cleveland, while John Wall and Bradley Beal look to be the reason they go far in the playoffs for Washington.

Washington Wizards

Record: 7-3, third in the Eastern Conference

Offense: 102.8 (20th)

Defense: 100.3 (6th)

The Good

- So far this season, the Wizards bread and butter comes on the defensive end. As you can see above, they rank sixth in the NBA in defensive rating, and they are there because of the amount of turnovers they force. So far this season, Washington ranks fourth in both turnovers forced and opponent's turnover percentage. They also defend the basket extremely well, allowing the third fewest points in the paint this year. The towering combination of Nene and Marcin Gortat, combined with the quickness off John Wall have made life tough for opposing offenses.

- They may not have a top-ranked offense, but they do one thing well that is comparable to the previous team the Cavs played: ball movement. The Wizards 65.2 percent of field goals assisted on is currently third in the NBA, and just 0.7 percent behind the top-ranked Spurs. The Cavs have given up the second most assists per game, and could see some problems with All-Star point guard John Wall commanding the offense.

- Speaking of Wall, he has lived up to all the hype he received coming out of the University of Kentucky, where he has been one of the best two-way guards in the league. He leads the league with 2.3 steals per game and is third in assists, averaging 9.3 per game. And by the way, he does all that while averaging close to 19 points per game. At 6-5, he possess both a height AND speed advantage, which could be a nightmare for Kyrie Irving.

The Bad

- Normally the "Let it Fly" moniker is used for a player who has an unnatural ability to shoot 3-pointers (hello Mike Miller), but when playing the Wizards, you can basically "Let Them Let it Fly" for how bad they are behind the arc. They don't necessarily shoot a bad percentage, but they don't take (29th in 3-point attempts) or make (29th in 3-point makes) a lot of 3-pointers. Considering Wall likes to use his quickness to get the basket, and the fact he also has some terrible shooting percentages, we might see the Cavs play zone for 48 minutes (very unlikely though).

- For as big as they are down low, the Wizards don't too much damage in terms of second chance points, where they rank 28th with 10.3 second chance points per game. Part of that problem is that they aren't a good offensive rebounding team, only bringing in 9.3 per game. Because they are a one-and-done offense, they will need an effective shooting night in order to score points, which they have shown so far this season they have trouble doing (18th in effective shooting percentage).

The Matchup to Watch

Kyrie Irving/Dion Waiters vs. John Wall/Bradley Beal

Shots were being fired left and right from both sides about who has the best backcourt in the NBA (which is neither for those wondering), promptly reviving the Cavs-Wizards rivalry of the mid-2000s. Beal led things off by saying the Wizards "definitely the best backcourt in the league", which then led to Waiters saying that Beal's claim was "nonsense" and sent one of the greatest tweets the internet has ever seen. Being that this is the first time these two teams have met since these comments, this could be a bloodbath (probably not though).

The Playlist

There is no one in the music industry who is more attached to a certain city than Wale and Washington D.C. are He's a huge Wizards and Redskins fan, and sort likes the Nationals. He likes to hoop too and is good friends with plenty of NBA players, specifically Kevin Durant, who is from Maryland. Not only is he the rapper who appreciates his roots, he's also one of the only well-known rappers from this area (sorry Logic, King Los and Black Cobain). Let us listen: 

Why Cleveland will win

The Cavs just came off of a game against the Spurs where they didn't play one of their best games and still had a chance to win the game at the end, until LeBron pulled an Earnest Byner (sorry Browns fans), costing them the game. This offense has been as good as advertised over the last few games, and not even a stout Washington defense could stop them.

Why Washington will win

We noted how well the Wizards are at forcing turnovers, and if Cleveland begins to cough up the ball, Washington will capitalize. The difference for Cleveland in their wins and losses have been turnovers, averaging 4.4 more in losses than in wins. All it takes is for Wall to have a couple of steals to change the outcome and the momentum of the game.

The Prediction

Cavs 102, Wizards 100

A lot will have to go wrong for this to be a blowout. Both of these backcourts are eager to prove which one is better, battling each other until the end. I think the difference will be LeBron and his ability to bounce back after poor games this year. Although he and Paul Pierce have had a solid rivalry against each other, Pierce is older and not as good as his younger self was. Expect a prototypical LeBron night, leading the Cavs to victory in the nation's capital.