Cleveland Cavaliers-Denver Nuggets: Odds, injuries, lineups, prediction and TV info for Jan. 6

Heading into Friday night’s game at the Denver Nuggets, the Cleveland Cavaliers are seeking their fourth straight win, and what would be their third this week.

Cleveland has had two comeback victories thus far this week and to begin the new year, with the first by way of a volcanic eruption from Donovan Mitchell on Monday night against the Chicago Bulls, and in a game on Wednesday night when Cleveland kept within striking distance, then ultimately prevailed 90-88 versus the Phoenix Suns.

On Friday, the Wine and Gold will be going up against back-to-back NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets in their building, in what will be the first of a five-game road trip out West for the Cavs. This one will be versus a Denver squad that is on the second leg of a back-to-back, but they controlled things from the jump and beat down the LA Clippers 122-91, so that might not play too much into this game.

So with those caveats, we’ll now get into the betting, injury and lineups outlook for this one, and then offer up our prediction.

Cavaliers-Nuggets: Odds, spread and over/under

Per Caesars, the Nuggets are favored by 6 points over the Cavaliers here. The moneyline is -250 for Denver and +205 for Cleveland, and the over/under is currently set for 221.

Cavaliers-Nuggets: Injury report

Cavs injuries: Donovan Mitchell (out, rest); Ricky Rubio (out, knee); Dean Wade (out, shoulder); Dylan Windler (out indefinitely, ankle); Isaiah Mobley (out, G-League – Two-way); Darius Garland (questionable, thumb).

Nuggets injuries: Jeff Green (out, hand); Peyton (out, adductor); Collin Gillespie (out, lower leg).

Cavaliers-Nuggets: Projected starters

Cavs starters: Raul Neto/Darius Garland, Isaac Okoro/Caris LeVert, Caris LeVert/Lamar Stevens, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen

Nuggets starters: Jamal Murray, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokic

Cavaliers-Nuggets: Prediction

As we mentioned earlier, the Nuggets are currently favored by 6 points over the Cavaliers here, and by the looks of it, the Wine and Gold are likely hard-pressed to beat the spread or be within realistic striking distance late here.

Given the workload for him, one could see as to why Mitchell is out on Friday night, with Garland having recently been sidelined with his thumb injury, and he’s questionable for this one. So that’s obviously going to be a major factor in this contest, and there’s other pieces out for the Cavaliers still, so with what Denver can do offensively, and with the Cavs having issues of late with slow starts, the Nuggets seem primed for a victory here.

The Cavaliers defensively may be able to keep themselves somewhat close, however, it seems as if this could be a game where the Nuggets are largely on cruise control.

If the Cavs don’t have Garland here, perhaps they start LeVert as a de facto lead playmaker, and reshuffle from there, which could help open up some opportunities. At the other end, though, Neto is probably a more favorable matchup to at least bother Murray.

All things considered, this just seems to be Denver’s game to lose, and hopefully the Cavs can gain some momentum as the game progresses heading into more of the meat of the road trip, where they should get healthier in time.

Prediction: Nuggets 116, Cavs 103

The Bet: Nuggets (-6), UNDER

Cavaliers-Nuggets: Where to watch/how to stream

For fans in-market and with the said options, Bally Sports Ohio and Altitude TV will have this one. For fans out of market and/or without those channels, NBA League Pass should suffice.

If you’re looking for a live stream, click here for a free trial of FuboTV!

Cavs upcoming schedule:

After this Nuggets game, the Cavaliers will continue on in their Western road trip with games at the Suns again on Sunday night, then the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night and Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.