As the calendar has turned to 2023, the Cleveland Cavaliers are trying to shore up some things. The Wine and Gold are sitting in fourth in the Eastern Conference at the moment, but the conference is ultra-competitive, and week-to-week, the standings are continually changing.
From Cleveland’s standpoint, they’re somewhat banged up, and Darius Garland (thumb sprain) and Evan Mobley (ankle soreness) missed the last game for the Cavs at the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night. Even with an unappealing Donovan Mitchell game, the Cavaliers did hang on in that one and went on to win 103-102 on New Year’s Eve, on the plus side, which snapped a three-game skid.
Next up for the Cavs, they’ll be facing off against the Bulls once again, with this matchup being at home at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
It’s unclear as to whether Garland and/or Mobley will be in action this go-round, but either way, the Cavs will need another strong defensive effort, and need to re-ignite themselves on that end in this upcoming road-heavy January stretch.
With that said, though, let’s take a look at Cleveland’s upcoming Monday night game, the first of the 2023 portion of the schedule, versus Chicago.
Cavaliers-Bulls: Odds, spread and over/under
Per DraftKings, the Cavaliers are favored here by 4 points over the Bulls. The moneyline is -175 for Cleveland and +150 for Chicago, and the over/under is currently set for 222.5.
Cavaliers-Bulls: Injury report
Cavs injuries: Ricky Rubio (out, knee); Dean Wade (out, shoulder); Dylan Windler (out indefinitely, ankle); Darius Garland (doubtful, thumb); Evan Mobley (questionable, ankle).
Bulls injuries: Lonzo Ball (out indefinitely, knee); Carlik Jones (G-League – Two-Way); Marko Simonovic (out, G-League – On Assignment); Tony Bradley (doubtful, personal); Javonte Green (questionable, knee); Alex Caruso (probable, shoulder); Derrick Jones Jr. (probable, ankle).
Cavaliers-Bulls: Projected starters
Cavs starters: Donovan Mitchell, Caris LeVert, Lamar Stevens, Evan Mobley/Kevin Love, Jarrett Allen
Bulls starters: Ayo Dosunmu/Alex Caruso, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Patrick Williams, Nikola Vucevic
Cavaliers-Bulls: Prediction
With this being another contest without Garland involved, there could be some more choppy play from the Cavaliers on offense, as there was on Saturday.
This next go-round, though, Cleveland could benefit from Mobley potentially being involved, but whether or not that occurs, the Cavs might be able to adjust by perhaps playing through Raul Neto a bit more in stretches. That could free up Mitchell more for off-ball shooting situations, or from off-ball screens generating him some catch-and-go looks, whether it’s from Neto, Caris LeVert or Kevin Love passes.
As for other elements in this contest, while it’s tough to suggest Stevens can hold up quite as well as he fared against DeRozan the last time out, he does match up well against DeMar, and if the Cavaliers can keep Chicago’s transition looks down, they should be just fine.
Of course, that was an issue at times on Saturday, in a turnover-filled game, but in the same light, at home, players such as Cedi Osman and Cleveland’s bench could get their share of leak-outs here.
Either way, while the likely Garland-less Cavs can’t feasibly be without him for a considerable chunk of games, here, their defense might be able to prevail again, and we should expect their perimeter shooting to help them in spurts. I’ll go Cleveland here, and to cover by a bit.
Prediction: Cavs 110, Bulls 104
The Bet: Cavs (-4), UNDER
Cavaliers-Bulls: Where to watch/how to stream
For fans in-market and with the said options, Bally Sports Ohio and NBC Sports Chicago will have this one. For fans without those options and/or out of market, NBA League Pass should do the trick.
If you’re looking for a streaming option, check out this link for a free trial of FuboTV!
Cavs upcoming schedule:
Following this Cavs-Bulls matchup, the Cavaliers will take on the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night at home, before embarking on a five-game Western road trip. They’ll start that trip at the Denver Nuggets on Friday night and will then face the Suns again, then on the road, on Sunday night.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.