NBA Predictions: The red-hot Cleveland Cavaliers visit the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night. The early part of the season was a struggle for the Cavaliers but they have picked it up of late and they are favored in this game against the Nets. Here is a look at the matchup and NBA predictions.
Finale of Three-Game Trip for Cavs
The Cavaliers will be playing the finale of a three-game road trip on Monday night. They were in New York on Thursday and at Toronto on Friday and then had the weekend off. The team went into the road trip having won four in a row. It should be noted that all of those wins came at home. They were just 2-4 ATS on the road before this trip began. LeBron James and Kevin Love have been playing much better of late and the team is now averaging almost 104 points per game. The defense still isn’t up to par as they are allowing about 100 points per contest.
They went under in three of their six road games with two games going over and one push. The concern for the Cavaliers is the bench. In their four game winning streak the bench was outscored 139-87. The team could get a boost on Monday with the return of point guard Matthew Dellavedova. He will be able to give Kyrie Irving some rest.
“Hopefully I can take a bit of pressure off of Kyrie (Irving), he’ s been having to play a lot of minutes at a high level,” Dellavedova said. “(Otherwise) just keep the ball moving, bring defensive energy and try to push the pace.”
Have the Nets Turned the Corner?
Brooklyn got a huge overtime win over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday and it might mark their turning point. The team got to within a game of .500 and showed signs of being a good team. Deron Williams and Brook Lopez have played well of late as Williams was averaging 18 points in the last couple of wins while Lopez was averaging 19.5 points and 11.5 rebounds in the last two wins.
Game Notes
The Brooklyn Nets have taken seven of the last 10 in this series but keep in mind that the Cavaliers are a much different team now with James and Love than in past seasons. The teams actually split their four meetings last year with each team winning at home. The Nets have won six of the last ten in this series at home with five of the last six going over.
NBA Predictions
The defense for the Cavs is still not very good so we’ll look for this game on Monday to go Over the total.
