The Cleveland Cavaliers and Brooklyn Nets tip off the NBA playoffs at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday. The stakes are high, with the winner advancing outright into the traditional NBA playoff format.
It’s a meeting between teams trending in opposite directions. Cleveland was once leading the East despite an assortment of injuries.
Brooklyn, meanwhile, has gotten clearance for Kyrie Irving to play at home and giving the Nets a level scale.
This game was essentially just played on Friday, with the Nets winning 118-107. It took a 16-point advantage in the fourth quarter for the Nets to pull it out.
Kevin Durant scored 36 points, and they were able to overcome a tough night shooting for Irving. Darius Garland scored 31 points.
The line is Brooklyn -8.5 with an over/under of 229.5. Those have since moved to Brooklyn -9.5 with an over/under of 227 as of this writing.
Brooklyn Nets Betting Preview: Finding rhythm
Irving has been struggling to shoot during home games, but the Nets have looked unbeatable in away games this season when Brooklyn is 24-17. Being able to have Durant to help take off some of the pressure offensively is a terrific advantage and is why many have had Brooklyn as title favorites early in the year.
Brooklyn is the fourth-most efficient offense, converting 47.5% of attempts this season. Defensively they are seventh in forcing teams into 45.2% from the field and eighth in opposing 3-point percentage at 34.5%.
Goran Dragic and Seth Curry are probable due to conditioning and with an ankle injury, respectively. If both can go, it’ll give the rotation a lift and more versatile pieces to counter Cleveland’s attack.
Cleveland Cavaliers Betting Preview: Finish the job
Cleveland led for a good chunk of the aforementioned meeting last week. Garland has been great all season, turning in an All-Star campaign with 21.7 points and 8.6 assists per game.
He led the Cavaliers to leading the East for a good chunk of the early season despite injuries to Collin Sexton, Ricky Rubio, and others.
But he needs help. Their defense has been exceptional this season due to frontcourt depth in Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, Lauri Markkanen, and Kevin Love. But with Allen out, the defense has suffered some.
Cleveland is eighth in holding teams to 45.2% from the field and fifth in points allowed per game at 105.7.
Adding Caris LeVert has been key and should help the offense. But they will need more help to beat Durant, Irving, and the Nets.
Betting Prediction
Cleveland is 3-7-1 against the spread over its last 11 meetings with Brooklyn. The over is 5-2 in the last seven matchups. For the season, the Cavaliers are 42-37-3 against the spread, 37-44-1 on over/unders, and 19-22 away from home.
Brooklyn is 33-47-2 against the spread, 40-41-1 on over/unders, and 20-21 at home. So far, 55% of the bets against the spread are on Brooklyn, and 59% are on the over.
We’ll go with Cleveland to cover the +9.5 but Brooklyn to win the game.
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