Written by Rich Swerbinsky

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The Cavs will know their first round opponent tonight, as the regular season comes to a close with two teams still duking it out for the #5 seed in the Eastern Conference.

With an impressive 116-103 win last night over fellow five seed hopeful Milwaukee, the Washington Wizards now control their own destiny.  A win tonight at Detroit (against a Pistons team sure to be resting their starters) would lock up the five seed for the Wizards, and lock them in as the Cavaliers first round opponent.

Should the Wizards lose, a win by the resurgent Chicago Bulls at home against Toronto tonight would give them the five seed, finishing off what would be a pretty amazing turnaround to end the season.  Just a month ago, the Bulls sat at 27-39, and a playoff berth, not to mention the #5 seed, seemed like an extreme improbability.  If the Bulls lose, the Wizards are the five seed irregardless of whether or not they win or lose tonight.

Inside, the Cavaliers players and coaches have to be pulling for the Bulls tonight despite the fact they’ve won 12 of their last 14.  The Cavs swept the season series against the Bulls 4-0 this season, and dropped three of four games against the Wizards.  The teams are very different.  The Wizards are the third highest scoring team in the league, and also have the league’s highest scoring trio in Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison, and Caron Butler.  The Bulls are tops in the league in opponent field goal percentage, holding foes to just 42.7% shooting on the season.

Regardless of who the opponent is, we will be covering every aspect of the Cavaliers first round playoff series going forward, starting with a detailed scouting report tomorrow on their decided opponent.