Editor’s Note: This piece updated to reflect most recent injury report
The 2022-23 NBA Season began in Toronto for the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was a difficult night, with Darius Garland suffering a bizarre eye injury that would keep him out for two weeks and the Cavs losing a close game by three points. It means the Cavs are likely hungry for a rematch to even the score.
The problem is that the Cavs aren’t dealing with one injury, they are dealing with a host of them. Kevin Love, Jarrett Allen and Lamar Stevens will miss tonight’s game, although Caris LeVert has a chance to return. The Raptors will be missing a few players of their own, hopefully evening the odds a bit.
Currently, the healthy Cavaliers are expected to play. Coming off of a game Sunday night, a close victory over the Detroit Pistons where Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley all played at least 39 minutes, will the Cavs decide to rest their stars? We’ll keep an eye on things and update here once that news comes out. For now, let’s break down the matchup as if everyone healthy is playing.
Betting odds, spread, over/under
The line on this game could move all over the place given how many key pieces are questionable, but as of Monday morning, the line was set to favor the Raptors by 1.5 points. The point total over/under is set to 213.
Cavs injury report
Jarrett Allen (back, out); Kevin Love (thumb, out); Lamar Stevens (illness, out); Caris LeVert (ankle, probable); Ricky Rubio (out indefinitely, knee); Dylan Windler (out indefinitely, ankle)
Cleveland Cavaliers starting lineup tonight
Cavs: Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Dean Wade, Evan Mobley, Robin Lopez
Opponent: Fred VanVleet, Gary Trent Jr., OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes, Thaddeus Young
Prediction
The Cavaliers at full strength are a deadly team, a two-way behemoth that walls off the paint and can attack from multiple angles. As you take players out of the rotation, however, they go from lethal to dangerous to pesky. Losing Caris LeVert and Kevin Love hamstrings the potency of the offense, while no Jarrett Allen or Lamar Stevens is a massive hit to the defense.
The Cavs’ depth will be called into action, and players like Isaac Okoro and Robin Lopez will need to step up and make an impact. That has happened to a certain degree, with Okoro having his best games of the season lately, but against really good teams the cracks begin to show.
The Raptors are one of those teams, with a positive net rating despite losing key players of their own throughout the season. They checked in at 10th in this week’s NBA Power Rankings, a formidable opponent even if the Cavs were at full strength. They have an active defense that forces a lot of turnovers, and that has been a bugaboo of the Cavaliers recently.
Cleveland can hang around if they throttle the Raptors on the other end, running their shooters off the line and trusting in Evan Mobley to clean up inside. On offense, the Cavs survived against the Pistons last night by getting to the free-throw line, and the foul-happy Raptors could be attacked in that way.
The marquee matchup whenever these teams meet is Mobley vs Scottie Barnes, the top-two finishers in the Rookie of the Year race last season. Both are playing key roles on good teams, and both often play power forward. They should go at each other a fair amount in this game.
Ultimately, the Raptors have done more with their available players than the Cavs have. With Cleveland on the road and coming off the back-to-back, this one is advantage: Raptors.
Prediction: Toronto 106, Cleveland 103
RAPTORS (-1.5), UNDER
What channel is the Cleveland Cavaliers game on?
The Cavaliers will take on the Raptors on Bally Sports Ohio, with Canadian fans tuning into TSN. Everyone else can hop on NBA League Pass to tune in. The game will tip at 7:30 pm ET.
Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Toronto Raptors live stream
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Cleveland Cavaliers next games and schedule
Wed, Nov. 30 – Cavs vs 76ers
Fri, Dec. 2 – Cavs vs Magic
Sun, Dec. 4 – Cavs @ Knicks
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change