Cleveland Cavaliers-Phoenix Suns: Odds, injuries, lineups, prediction and TV info for Jan. 8

On Sunday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers will be playing in the second game of their current Western road trip, which spans five games in total.

Cleveland lost its first game of this roadie on Friday night at the Denver Nuggets, given Denver’s second half play, where the Cavs’ defense had a world of trouble containing the Nuggets’ attack, and Denver made almost half of their three-point shot attempts. That, and Donovan Mitchell sitting in that one because of rest didn’t bode well for the Wine and Gold, and Cleveland looked choppy at times on offense after half, too, in a 121-108 L.

With that said, the Cavaliers will have to turn the page, and on Sunday night, they’ll face a Phoenix Suns team that they just played, then at home, on Wednesday night. In that outing, the Cavs did just enough to come back late in a 90-88 win, and this next go-round, hopefully Cleveland’s offense can have more steady flow throughout.

That first Cavs-Suns meeting of the season didn’t feature that, clearly.

Cavaliers-Suns: Odds, spread and over/under

According to FanDuel, the Cavaliers are favored over the Suns by 4.5 points. The moneyline for Cleveland is -184 and for Phoenix is +154; the over/under is currently set for 214.

Cavaliers-Suns: Injury report

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

Suns injuries: Devin Booker (out indefinitely, groin); Cameron Johnson (out, knee); Cameron Payne (out, foot); Jae Crowder (out, not with team); Chris Paul (questionable, hip).

Cavaliers-Suns: Projected starters

Cavs starters: Darius Garland/Donovan Mitchell, Donovan Mitchell/Caris LeVert, Isaac Okoro, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen

Suns starters: Chris Paul/Landry Shamet, Landry Shamet/Duane Washington Jr., Mikal Bridges, Torrey Craig, Deandre Ayton

Cavaliers-Suns: Prediction

As we mentioned, the first Cavs-Suns matchup on Wednesday night was hardly a shootout, as both teams struggled mightily for extended stretches offensively, and in that one, the Cavaliers had 33 points at halftime.

This game could potentially be another low scoring affair, as Garland and Paul are both questionable coming into Sunday, too. Mitchell will be in action, as an aside.

What would make a sizeable difference here, though, would be a bounce-back game from Jarrett Allen, who uncharacteristically had just two points in that last meeting against Ayton and company, and had three shot attempts in 33 minutes.

The Cavaliers need Allen to play how he’s capable of as an interior presence, and ideally, him and Evan Mobley need to bother Ayton at the other end.

Anyhow, while this could be a game with some shot creation limitations with the injuries playing into that, I do believe Cleveland should come out with a win. I’ll say it’s very close, however.

Prediction: Cavs 107, Suns 103

The Bet: (Suns, +4.5), UNDER

Cavaliers-Suns: How to watch/where to stream

For fans in-market and with the said options, this game will be on Bally Sports Ohio and Bally Sports Arizona. And for fans out of market and/or without those channels, NBA League Pass should have it.

If you need a live stream, click here for a free trial of FuboTV!

Cavaliers upcoming schedule:

After facing the Suns again, the Cavaliers will continue on in their road trip in facing the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night, then the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night. Following those outings, they’ll wrap this current roadie at the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.