Cavs vs Warriors: Starters, Odds, Prediction and TV Channel

The Cleveland Cavaliers continue to fight every game that they are in, and despite their mounting injuries have not yet been blown out. They hung tough with the Boston Celtics on Monday and the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday despite an injury list that reached to the floor.

Less than 24 hours after facing Kevin Durant the Cavs must take on Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors, the league’s best team through four week. Curry has been unstoppable, once again leading the league in scoring and in 3-pointers. He is listed as questionable with a hip contusion; if he doesn’t play, the Cavs have a much better shot at pulling the upset despite their own injury woes.

The Cavs host the league-leading Golden State Warriors on Thursday night. What do you need to know about who is playing and how to bet?

The Warriors are in the midst of a small road trip, splitting the first two games. They lost a close game to the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday before walloping the Nets on Tuesday evening. The Cavs played the Nets just last night, hanging close enough to cover the spread but ultimately losing 109-99. Now they take on another title contender in a daunting back-to-back.

Who is expected to be available and ready to play against the Warriors tonight? And how does Vegas balance the odds given all of the injury uncertainty on both sides? Let’s break it down and land on a prediction for tonight’s rematch of the 2015 NBA Finals. And the 2016 Finals. And 2017. And 2018. Yeah, there’s some history here.

Cleveland Cavaliers vs Golden State Warriors: Odds, spread, over/under

The Cavaliers (9-7) will host the Golden State Warriors (12-2) tonight. According to our partners over at WynnBet, the Warriors are favored by eight points. The over/under is 209, which therefore implies a final score of 108-101.

The Cavs are at home, but they had to race home after losing to the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night in New York. The Warriors are likewise coming from Brooklyn, having faced the Nets on Tuesday and winning in a blowout.

Cavs vs Warriors: Projected starting lineups, injury report

Warriors starters: Stephen Curry, Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, Kevon Looney.

Cavs: Darius Garland, Ricky Rubio, Isaac Okoro, Dean Wade, Ed Davis

The Warriors’ key injuries: Klay Thompson (out, Achilles); James Wiseman (out, knee); Andre Iguodala (out, rest); Stephen Curry (questionable, hip)

The Cavaliers’ key injuries: Collin Sexton (out, knee); Evan Mobley (out, elbow); Lauri Markkanen (doubtful, health and safety protocols); Jarrett Allen (questionable, illness); Lamar Stevens (out, ankle)

Cavs vs Warriors: Prediction

The Golden State Warriors are absolutely rolling right now, the best team in the league by record, net rating and the eye test. Stephen Curry is bombing away, their role players fit much better than the past two seasons, and Draymond Green is a defensive monster who has started the season in excellent shape. While preseason expectations still matter to some extent, the Warriors should be the current title favorite.

Cleveland, on the other hand, is playing above its head thus far to be firmly in the playoff mix. A terrifying couple of weeks await them as they try to take on a sea of winning teams without half of their rotation. Even so they have refused to roll over, hanging tight with the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets the last two games: neither was a blowout despite Cleveland’s huge injury-driven talent disparity.

The Cavs are on the back end of a back-to-back tonight after the Nets game last night, while the Warriors are on the front end of one before zipping over to Detroit to play the Pistons on Friday. That is why Andre Iguodala is getting the night off, and depending on how Stephen Curry’s hip feels it could mean he sits out tonight as well. Keep your eyes peeled until an official announcement is made on Curry.

Hopefully, the Cavs get good news of their own and will have Jarrett Allen back from his non-COVID illness. There has been no word on Lauri Markkanen yet, so it’s likely he will miss at least one more game in the health and safety protocols. Last night the lack of Allen and Markkanen led J.B. Bickerstaff to dust off Ed Davis and start him, bringing Kevin Love in off the bench. He also finally moved Ricky Rubio into the starting lineup and slid Isaac Okoro to the 3. Until we hear about Allen that’s the most likely group to start tonight.

The Cavs lost to the Nets in Brooklyn by 10, while the Warriors won by 18 points: therefore the transitive property tells us that the Warriors will win tonight by 28, right? On the other hand, the Warriors lost in Charlotte on Sunday by four points, while Cleveland won in Charlotte by three, so that sounds like a seven-point win to me.

Assuming Curry plays, the Warriors are the better team and are prone to blowing opponents out. Their roster is 15 players deep (when fully healthy), so even when they put in their deep bench they can keep rolling on teams. The eight point spread likely is a hedge against Curry sitting the game out, but if he plays it’s probably a cover for the Warriors who are beating their opponents by an average of 13.6 points per game.

What about the point total of 209? Even in a strong Golden State win it’s a huge question mark how many points the Cavs will be able to score on the league’s best defense. Golden State could win by 15 points and the total still come in under 209. The Cavs deserve respect for hanging tough despite their injuries, but this is a team that, for one night, can expose just how thin the Cavs really are right now.

Prediction: Golden State 111, Cleveland 96

The Bet: Warriors -8, UNDER

Cavs vs Warriors: Where to Watch

The national television networks probably wish now that they had managed to secure every single Warriors game for primetime viewing, but as it is this game will be carried by the regional networks. That means Bally Sports Ohio for local Cavs fans, NBC Sports Bay Area for the Warriors, and NBA League Pass for everyone else. The game begins at 7:30pm EST.

Cleveland Cavaliers Upcoming Schedule

The Cleveland Cavaliers get a moment to catch their breath and hopefully get some contributors back. They won’t play again until they host Brooklyn on Monday night. If Allen and Markkanen are back, perhaps they can avenge last night’s 10-point loss with a home win.

Things don’t let up from there. They face the Phoenix Suns (winners of 10 straight) on Wednesday, then host an Orlando Magic team that is 3-5 in their last eight games. Then it’s six-straight games against expected playoff teams, four of those on the road. This next stretch will likely decide whether they can hang around when Mobley comes back, or if their grave is dug too deep.