The Los Angeles Clippers look to win back-to-back games on back-to-back days as they wrap up a three-game road trip against the Cleveland Cavaliers at 7 p.m. ET on Monday. It’s the second game of a back-to-back after beating Detroit 106-102 on Sunday.
The Clippers (36-34) find themselves solidly in the Western Conference play-in tournament as an eight seed, sitting five games behind the Nuggets, who are sixth, and eight games ahead of Portland, which is 11th.
Cleveland (38-29) was the hottest team in the Eastern Conference for a while but has fallen from the top spot to sixth. Still, the top seven teams out East are within seven games of each other, with the Cavs six games behind East-leading Miami.
These two teams met on Oct. 27, with Cleveland winning 92-79, but these teams look different due to injuries. Collin Sexton, Ricky Rubio, and Paul George all played in that contest and are now out.
The line opened at Cleveland -5.5 with an over/under of 211.5, where it sticks as of this writing.
Cleveland Cavaliers Betting Preview: Limit 3-pointers
If there’s an area for concern in Cleveland’s second-ranked defense, it’s that they are 12th in allowing teams to shoot 34.8% from 3-point range. That plays into Los Angeles’ strength as the fourth-best 3-point shooting team (36.6%).
A solid interior defense is a result of adding Jarrett Allen, drafting Evan Mobley, and having Lauri Markkanen and Kevin Love in the frontcourt. Allen is out indefinitely, and Markkanen is questionable (ankle) heading into Monday’s game.
While a shell of itself, the Cavs still have their All-Star in Darius Garland, who is averaging 21.1 points and 8.2 assists per game. His elevated play in Sexton’s absence is why Cleveland got off to a strong start. Once Caris LeVert and others get healthy, the Cavs should be strong outs in the playoffs.
Los Angeles Clippers Betting Preview: Weather the storm
Cleveland’s starting lineup will outplay the Clippers’ at times, but with significant injury reports to each, the Clippers are more accustomed to their rotations and should find pockets to pull ahead at points.
The former Pistons trio of Reggie Jackson, Marcus Morris Sr., and Luke Kennard have led the way while George has been out. Jackson and Morris are at 17.1 and 16.0 points per game, respectively, and Kennard is converting 45.8% of 3-point attempts to score 11.8 points per game.
The Clippers are also an above-average defensive team, ranking 11th in scoring, seventh in field goal percentage (44.7%), and sixth in 3-point percentage 34.0%).
Betting Prediction
This game has such a low over/under for an NBA game, but the first game showed how these two teams play defensively, so it shouldn’t be a surprise. Even with injuries to both sides, there are defensive principles still in place and a veteran core who can lead the way.
The Clippers are 36-34 against the spread and 32-37-1 on over/unders. They are 16-20 on the road. Cleveland is 37-28-2 against the spread and 26-40-2 on over/unders while boating a 20-11 home record.
The edge goes to Cleveland to win this game, but the Clippers should be able to cover +5.5 as long as they can keep fresh legs shuffling through and weather Cleveland’s runs.
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