Cleveland Cavaliers-Oklahoma City Thunder: Odds, injuries, lineups, prediction and TV info for Dec. 10

Heading into Saturday night’s game versus the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Cleveland Cavaliers are looking to rebound from a late-game cold spell in Friday night’s loss to the Sacramento Kings. The Cavaliers seemed primed to get the job done, that just didn’t happen, because Sacramento rattled off an insane 19-0 run in the last 4:41. That collapse from the Cavs was reminiscent of similar late-game collapses earlier in the season at the LA Clippers and Golden State Warriors.

Objectively, as an aside, the Los Angeles Lakers only had Anthony Davis for nine minutes in that Cavs win against them on Tuesday, and De’Aaron Fox was not 100 percent on Friday (foot soreness), but Cleveland was without Donovan Mitchell (lower leg soreness) versus the Kings. And it’s not as if the Cavs haven’t had injuries. All teams do throughout a long season, though.

Regardless of the outcome on Friday being disappointing, the Cavaliers have to flush that one, with a very young Thunder squad that has its share of intriguing guys for years ahead coming up next, and OKC has had their moments already this season. They’re 11-14, as compared to Cleveland’s 16-10 record. Still, the Cavs will hopefully generate some easy buckets to ingite a few runs.

So with that, let’s get into the odds and lineup outlook for this one, among other aspects of the contest.

Cavaliers-Thunder: Odds, spread and over/under

Per FanDuel, the Cavaliers are favored by 5.5 points over the Thunder on Saturday. The moneyline is -225 for Cleveland and +188 for Oklahoma City. The over/under is currently set for 222.

Cavaliers-Thunder: Injury report

Cavs injuries: Kevin Love (out, back); Dean Wade (out, shoulder); Ricky Rubio (out, knee); Dylan Windler (out, ankle); Donovan Mitchell (questionable, leg). This is based on Friday, as Cleveland’s injury report wasn’t submitted yet, but this seems accurate.

Thunder injuries: Chet Holmgren (out for season, foot); Kenrich Williams (out, knee); Ousmane Dieng (G-League – On Assignment); Lindy Waters III (G-League, Two-Way).

Cavaliers-Thunder: Projected starters

Cavs starters: Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell/Caris LeVert, Lamar Stevens, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen

Thunder starters: Josh Giddey, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort, Aleksej Pokusevski, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl

Cavaliers-Thunder: Prediction

In this contest, the Cavaliers need to be patient against a Thunder team that’s such a young group. OKC is a club that’s going to want to get up and down a ton here, as they play at the third-fastest pace in the NBA, and with Giddey, SGA and Dort, those guys are tough to handle if the Cavs don’t get back.

For the Cavs, if they can play their style, and impose their will on the interior first with Mobley and Allen, and then have inside-out offense off that, they should be able to eventually control this one. One should anticipate seeing the Cavaliers get their way to the foul line early and often, to that point, and hopefully, Cleveland can force the Thunder into tough looks enough at the other end in set offense.

Granted, it’s not certain as to whether Mitchell will be involved on Saturday, so we’ll have to see if the Cavs can keep things moving enough, and/or if LeVert/Osman can make plays here via self-creation to help make up for Mitchell’s absence. Love, I’d imagine, will be out, either way, regarding Cleveland’s shooting efforts from the outside.

Anyhow, while OKC is not a squad the Cavs can take lightly coming in, and the Cavs are on the second leg of this back-to-back, one should anticipate to see them playing with purpose in set offense, picking their spots in transition and the defensive communication to be sured up for most of the game.

There’s no collapse from the Cavaliers here, and despite SGA’s shot-making, Cleveland bounces back and controls the game in the paint. The Cavs win and cover, although the under hits here.

Prediction: Cavs 110, Thunder 99

The Bet: Cavs (-5.5), UNDER

Cavaliers-Thunder: How to watch/stream

This game between the Cavs and Thunder will be available on Bally Sports Ohio and Bally Sports Oklahoma, Bally Sports Kansas City, Bally Sports Midwest and Bally Sports Southwest, for fans in-market and with those options. For fans out of market and/or without those options, NBA League Pass will have this game.

For a streaming option, check out FuboTV via free trial here!

Cavaliers upcoming schedule

Following this OKC game, the Cavs will take on the San Antonio Spurs and then Dallas Mavericks on the road on Monday and then Wednesday night. After that one, the Cavs will begin a six-game homestand versus the Indiana Pacers next Friday night.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.