Washington Wizards (17-64, 15th in Eastern Conference) and Cleveland Cavaliers (51-30, 4th in East) meet on Sunday, April 12, at Rocket Arena in a matchup defined almost entirely by availability and rotation depth.
Washington enters with a depleted roster featuring multiple core absences across all positions. Trae Young is out with low back pain and a right quad contusion.
The Wizards also list Anthony Davis (left finger sprain), Alex Sarr (left big toe capsulitis), Bilal Coulibaly (right Achilles bursitis), Kyshawn George (left elbow sprain), Tre Johnson (right foot sprain and low back strain), and Tristan Vukcevic (right knee contusion) all as out.
Additional absences include D’Angelo Russell, who is not with the team, as well as Cam Whitmore, sidelined due to right shoulder deep vein thrombosis. Alex Sarr and Bilal Coulibaly’s absences also remove key defensive and two-way versatility from the frontcourt and wing rotation.
Anthony Gill is listed as questionable due to cervical and lumbar contusion with post-traumatic headache symptoms.
Cleveland also arrives heavily short-handed despite holding a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference standings. Donovan Mitchell (right ankle injury maintenance), Evan Mobley (left calf injury management), Jarrett Allen (right knee maintenance), and James Harden (rest) are all ruled out.
The Cavaliers additionally list Thomas Bryant (left calf strain), Keon Ellis (left knee contusion), Sam Merrill (left hamstring injury maintenance), Dennis Schroder (rest), and Dean Wade (right ankle injury maintenance) as unavailable.
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Recent form shows Washington coming off a 140-117 loss to Miami, while Cleveland enters after a 124-102 loss to Atlanta following a prior win in the same matchup.
The season series strongly favors Cleveland, which has won all three meetings this year by double-digit margins, including offensive outputs above 130 points in two of those contests.
