It’s safe to say that the Cleveland Cavaliers are playing far from their best basketball right now as the regular season is wrapping up. Cleveland has lost four of its last five games, and is 5-10 in its last 15 games.
The squad not having Jarrett Allen since early March (fractured finger) has not helped, and Caris LeVert missed the teams’ first nine games after the All-Star break because of a foot sprain. It has taken time for him to establish a rhythm since then, and Rajon Rondo missing a number of games due to an ankle sprain was hardly a bench playmaking boost. Evan Mobley missing several recent outings because of an ankle sprain himself has hurt, also.
Nonetheless, it has not all been from injury, regarding Cleveland’s inconsistencies, and their loss on Tuesday night at the Orlando Magic, who were very banged up, too, was all on the Cavaliers.
On the plus side, though, the Cavs still have gotten elite play from Darius Garland, and LeVert has seemingly found his groove with the Wine and Gold of late, and Cleveland’s ball movement has picked up. Lauri Markkanen and Lamar Stevens have been recent positives, too, with Markkanen really stepping up of late.
Mobley and Allen potentially could be back soon, also, and perhaps we could see at least Mobley back before play-in game/games begin next week, and that’d make a difference, particularly on defense.
So, in relation to what’s next on the docket for the Cavaliers, they’ll face the Brooklyn Nets on Friday, a club who they could end up playing in the play-in tournament next week, possibly. Brooklyn is #8 in the Eastern Conference, whereas Cleveland is #7; still, that could definitely change for both.
A win on Friday would be very helpful for the Cavs, who would benefit immensely; that might be tough to come by down the stretch, though.
The Cavs will face the Nets on the road on Friday night, and try to greatly help their play-in positioning. So what do you need to know going into this one, and how to bet?
The Cavs will be going up against a Nets squad that’s been up-and-down all year, largely due to injuries and Kyrie Irving not being able to play much in home games, but with the New York City vaccination mandate being lifted for perfomers and entertainers/athletes recently, he’s now back full-time.
Irving and Kevin Durant, along with Patty Mills, Seth Curry and others could make for a tough out come postseason time, should they get there.
In this one, pertaining to the Cavaliers, Cleveland could potentially steal one if they can knock down shots aside from Garland, but they’ll need to string together stops in key times. That could be tough, and among clubs in their past 15 games, Brooklyn is third in offensive rating, in which they’ve gone 10-5.
Getting Mobley back could help, and it appears that he could be in this one.
Cavaliers-Nets: Betting info
According to our partners at WynnBet, currently, the Nets are favored over the Cavaliers here by 8.0 points. The over/under total for both teams here is set for 233.0.
For Brooklyn, the over/under is set for 120.5, whereas for Cleveland that’s set for 112.5.
Cavaliers-Nets: Projected starters and injury report
Nets starters: Seth Curry/Patty Mills, Kyrie Irving, Bruce Brown Jr., Kevin Durant, Andre Drummond/Nic Claxton
Cavs starters: Darius Garland, Isaac Okoro, Caris LeVert, Lauri Markkanen, Moses Brown/Evan Mobley
Nets injuries: Ben Simmons (out, return to competition conditioning/back); Goran Dragic (out, COVID-19 health and safety protocols); Joe Harris (out for season, ankle); Seth Curry (probable, ankle).
Cavs injuries: Jarrett Allen (doubtful, finger); Collin Sexton (out for season, knee); Dean Wade (out for season, knee); Evan Mobley (questionable, ankle).
Cavs-Nets: Prediction
The Cavaliers have gone 1-2 thus far with the Nets this season, and Brooklyn still not having Simmons in action, or for the play-in, is worrisome from their standpoint, I believe. For the Cavaliers, that can help them, to some degree, on the offensive end, but whether Mobley can play here, and how effective he can be, is crucial.
Generally, I’d expect Garland to still be successful here, considering what he’s done for the month-plus, and most of post-All-Star break play. Regardless of if we see Brown, Curry or others on him, he should do his part; one could foresee some doubles throughout here, though, where Brooklyn forces the Cavs to make plays on the weak side, and hit shots/have others make plays.
That sort of thing is where having Mobley in could make a big difference, as opposed to say, Moses Brown.
However, on the other end, it’s still difficult for me to project how the Cavs can string together stops for true stretches of this one, with how difficult the Nets are to account for, particularly with Curry likely involved, Mills’ knockdown abilities, and Irving/Durant as go-to guys.
In this sort of contest, I think the Cavs do their damndest to hang around, and I think on offense, Markkanen can keep his hot stretch going. But whether or not Mobley is involved, I just believe Brooklyn is too much in the last 5-7 minutes.
I think the Cavs do cover here, though. As for the totals, I’ll go over. Why not?
Prediction: Nets 121, Cavs 115
The Bet: Cavs (+8.0), OVER
Cavaliers-Nets: Where to watch
For fans it applies to in the respective markets and subscribed, Bally Sports Ohio and the YES Network will have this contest.
For fans not with those options and/or out of market, NBA League Pass should suffice, for those subscribed.
Cavs upcoming schedule:
After this Nets game on the road, the Cavaliers will finish out the regular season against the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday afternoon at home. That’ll be another difficult contest, no matter if Milwaukee rests some players or not, as the Bucks are arguably the league’s best team when mostly healthy and they could go back-to-back in these playoffs.
Following that, the Cavs will go against either the Nets again in the 7-8 game, the Atlanta Hawks, or, at this point, Cleveland could feasibly have to win two play-in games. In that scenario, which, frankly, could very well happen, if the Cavs lose their last two, Cleveland would likely face the Charlotte Hornets at home in the 9-10 play-in game. And then they’d have to play the winner between likely Brooklyn and Atlanta, it seems, if the Cavaliers won that 9-10 game at home, on the road from there to clinch a postseason berth.
Maybe the Cavs can still get a win in the next two games to only have to win one play-in game, but that’s tough to say right now. If the Cavaliers lose in a 9-10 game, their season would be done, or if they lost in both the 7-8 game and then to the 9-10 winner. But if Cleveland doesn’t make the postseason, they would, as a silver lining, keep their lottery-protected first-round pick for the 2022 NBA Draft.