Brooklyn Nets @ Cleveland Cavaliers
Current Records: Brooklyn 4-5, Cleveland 10-0
The Cavaliers will be playing the full four quarters on Saturday, but they’re expected to have things wrapped up well before that. They and the Brooklyn Nets will face off at 7:30 p.m. ET at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. The Cavaliers will be coming into the match with an undefeated record on the line.
The Cavaliers will bounce into Saturday’s game after (finally) beating the Warriors, who they had gone 2-8 against in their ten prior meetings. Everything went the Cavaliers’ way against the Warriors on Friday as the Cavaliers made off with a 136-117 win. Cleveland has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four contests by 19 points or more this season.
The Cavaliers’ win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Darius Garland, who went 6 for 11 from beyond the arc en route to 27 points plus six assists and three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Evan Mobley, who went 7 for 12 en route to 23 points plus two blocks.
The Cavaliers were working as a unit and finished the game with 33 assists (they’re ranked fifth in assists per game overall). That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they’ve now racked up at least 25 assists in six consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, the Nets fought the good fight in their overtime match against the Celtics on Friday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell to Boston 108-104. Brooklyn was up 16-2 in the first but couldn’t hold on to the lead.
Cleveland’s victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 10-0. As for Brooklyn, they now have a losing record at 4-5.
Keep an eye on the arc in Saturday’s game: The Cavaliers have been dynamite from deep this season, having nailed 42.7% of their threes per game. It’s a different story for the Nets, though, as they’ve only made 34.8% of their threes this season. Given the Cavaliers’ sizable advantage in that area, the Nets will need to find a way to close that gap.
The Cavaliers might still be hurting after the devastating 120-101 loss they got from the Nets in their previous matchup back in March. Can the Cavaliers avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We’ll find out soon enough.
Cleveland is a big 13-point favorite against Brooklyn, according to the latest NBA odds.
The line has drifted a bit towards the Cavaliers, as the game opened with the Cavaliers as a 11.5-point favorite.
The over/under is 221.5 points.
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Cleveland has won 6 out of their last 10 games against Brooklyn.
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