The Cleveland Cavaliers appear to righting the ship a bit in the past two contests.
It was not pretty down the stretch, but they did land a W in double overtime over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday, albeit with Charlotte sans LaMelo Ball. Darius Garland did save the day in that one in those OTs, thankfully, and the Wine and Gold cruised to a win over the Miami Heat on Sunday.
The Heat were without a number of rotational guys in that one, including Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro, but for the Cavs, it was nice to see the squad control the contest and it’s been a plus to have Jarrett Allen back in the past two games.
Next up for the Cavaliers on the second leg of this latest back-to-back for them is a matchup with Trae Young, Dejounte Murray and the Atlanta Hawks. Atlanta picked up an overtime win on Saturday versus the Toronto Raptors capped off by a wild finish.
So, let’s take a closer look at this next Cavs-Hawks game here, first examining the betting info, injury report and projected lineups, before getting into our prediction. This should be a fun one between two 10-6 clubs.
Cavaliers-Hawks: Odds, spread and over/under
According to FanDuel, the Cavaliers are favored by 2.5 points over the Hawks here. The moneyline for Cleveland is -136 and for Atlanta is +116.
The over/under total for Monday in this matchup is currently 226.
Cavaliers-Hawks: Injury report
Cavs injuries: Ricky Rubio (out, knee); Dylan Windler (out, ankle); Kevin Love (doubtful, thumb); Dean Wade (doubtful, knee); Caris LeVert (questionable, ankle).
Hawks injuries: Bogdan Bogdanovic (out, knee); Jarrett Culver and Trent Forrest (G-League-Two-Way); Tyrese Martin (G-League-On Assignment).
Cavaliers-Hawks: Projected starting lineups
Cavs starters: Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Lamar Stevens, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen
Hawks starters: Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, De’Andre Hunter, John Collins, Clint Capela
Cavaliers-Hawks: Prediction
This game should be a stark contrast to Sunday’s for Cleveland, when the Cavaliers jumped ahead and landed an easy W against a Heat team that was without its two best on-ball scoring options. The Hawks still are without Bogdan Bogdanovic, but their backcourt is one that’s comparable to Cleveland’s with Dejounte Murray in the fold, and he and Trae Young will be a handful for the Wine and Gold.
I do expect the Cavaliers backcourt duo to keep things rolling here, though, as Darius Garland may have his All-Star level of play back, and Donovan Mitchell has been able to impact games in multiple ways for the Cavs on plenty of occasions already.
Granted, this is a game where Cleveland could miss Kevin Love as a spacer and as a defensive rebounder, and it seems Dean Wade being out is a blow defensively, and for the open floor game. I’d imagine the pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop game with John Collins could be difficult to account for here, for what it’s worth.
However, while Cleveland will need to have another productive game out of Cedi Osman, who was dynamite with more opportunities on Sunday, I do believe that Evan Mobley’s continual strong play could be the difference here, anyways.
Expect Mobley to be very aggressive, and I think between him and Jarrett Allen’s effort level on the glass, that could lead foul trouble for Clint Capela, which could be especially impactful as the game approaches the fourth quarter.
I’ll go with the Cavaliers here to win, and cover in closing time, with the over being the move. They’ve had issues there, but I think this Cavs team might be starting to find their way with more games under their belt with Mitchell.
Prediction: Cavs 116, Hawks 111
The Bet: Cavs (-2.5), OVER
Cavaliers-Hawks: Where to watch/how to stream
For fans in-market and with the said options, Bally Sports Ohio and Bally Sports Southeast will have this contest. For fans out of market and/or without those channels, NBA League Pass will this one.
For a streaming option, check out FuboTV via free trial here!
Cavs upcoming schedule:
After this game against Atlanta, the Cavs will conclude their current four-game homestand versus the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday before taking on the Milwaukee Bucks again on Friday in Wisconsin. From there, the Cavaliers will face the Detroit Pistons on the road on Sunday.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.