Toilet Bowl game could be interesting

Andray Blatche and the Wizards could be 0-25 on the road by the time they head to Cleveland on Feb. 13 (Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)

We’re at the midway point of the season, which means you’re going to read a bunch of stories wrapping up the first half of the season and looking ahead to the second. The latter variety will include lists of games to watch, and there are many games left between elite teams and those who will be jostling for playoff positioning down to the wire.

But I’ve got my eye on the Feb. 13 game between the Cavaliers and Wizards in Cleveland. Why? Because the Wizards are 0-19 on the road, and their next six road games (starting Wednesday in Milwaukee) look like this:

@ Bucks (Jan. 19)

@ Knicks (Jan. 24)

@ Thunder (Jan. 28)

@ Grizzlies (Jan. 29)

@ Mavericks (Jan. 31)

@ Hornets (Feb. 1)

The Bucks and Knicks — Washington’s next two away opponents — are only 18-18 combined at home, so the Wizards have two golden chances to get their first road win over the next week. The next four teams on the list are a combined 57-26 at home.

The Wizards really should not be 0-19 on the road, and there’s a decent chance they’re going to snag one of the their next two road games or pull an upset in one of the next four. But if they don’t, they’ll be 0-25 on the road going into that February showdown against Cavaliers, and there will be legitimate buzz over whether the Wiz can finally get their first road win that night. The Cavs, meanwhile, have lost 13 straight, and their most loyal fans are clearly going insane at this point. Who knows what Cleveland’s record will look like by the time the Wizards arrive?

Back to the Wizards: They are putting up a pretty strange season. They are 12-27 overall and playing .600 ball at home. They’re on pace to win 25 games, and that’s not the sort of statistical profile we’d normally associate with a team in danger of becoming one of the worst road teams in NBA history. The Wizards are outscoring opponents by three points per game at home and losing on the road by a ridiculous average margin of 14.4 points.

That is unusual stuff. The worst road teams in modern NBA history were, not surprisingly, pathetic no matter where they played. The 1997-98 Nuggets went 2-39 on the road and lost by an average of 13.6 points away from Denver. They weren’t much better at home, though: They went just 9-32 in Denver and lost by nearly 10 points per game.

Last year’s Nets went 4-37 on the road with an average scoring margin of -11 per game. At home, they managed to go just 8-33 with a scoring margin around -7.

Also in the conversation is the inaugural version of the Miami Heat, who finished 3-38 on the road and got trounced by an unthinkable average of 15.2 points. That team managed just a dozen wins all season in Miami and had an average home scoring margin of -7.3.

The 1986-87 Clippers (3-38 on the road), 1980-81 Mavs (4-37) and 1996-97 Celtics (4-37, tanking hard for Tim Duncan) all put up similar statistical profiles — amazingly bad on the road and less-bad-but-still-awful at home.

The Wizards are a bizarre outlier, perhaps due in part to the inexperience of many of their core players. They should be winning on the road more than they have this season.

But if they’re 0-25 by that showdown in Cleveland? That’s going to be my League Pass game of the night.