Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Brooklyn Nets Bet Preview & Picks

The Nets will travel to Cleveland to play the Cavs for the second time within a week. When they got together last Wednesday, Brooklyn won the game by 10 points, despite their opponents being without six rotational players. Cleveland has been fighting hard all year, and alas, enter into this game with a three-game skid. Some help should be on the way, though.

Jarrett Allen, Lauri Markkanen, and Lamar Stevens are all expected to suit up, while they got some unfortunate news that Collin Sexton is going to miss the rest of the year. He had been the spark plug during each of his first three NBA campaigns, so it was tough to hear about him now having to miss time like this. He had been relatively healthy for his whole career, and the offense takes a big hit.

Brooklyn will get Kevin Durant back for this game after missing him in their tight win on Friday against Orlando. They will remain without Joe Harris and Nicolas Claxton, though, while Bruce Brown is slated to miss this one too. Patty Mills three-point shooting won the game for BK when these teams last met and will likely play a large role once again.

This is a great test for Cleveland now, seeing if they can get their revenge on the Nets. They won some epic games against them last year, too.

Betting Odds & Lines

The spread for Monday night is set at BKN -6. The over/under is sitting at 209 points. The CLE moneyline is +195.

Nets Seeking 13th Victory

Not having Kyrie Irving around has not seemed to bother the Nets much. They have been fortunate that James Harden hasn’t had to miss a game yet, while Kevin Durant has already been on the floor more consistently to this point in the season than a year ago. The two of them have been fantastic, and there is a 0.0000000% chance Harden is traded for Ben Simmons.

This is a group that has been able to lock in defensively to close out games. They have LaMarcus Aldridge playing at a high level, which is great to see now that he’s back from the heart issues that forced him to retire a year ago.

They need to contain their old pal Jarrett Allen.

Cavs Seeking Return to Winning

After beginning the year 9-5, injuries started to take hold and ruined some things for Cleveland. They will remain without Evan Mobley for another few weeks, but with Markkanen and the Fro coming back, they finally add some size upfront. Ed Davis had been the tallest starter.

They have been getting great play from both Darius Garland and Ricky Rubio, who have one of the lob threats back out there, which should lead to some easier points now. They have dropped three in a row and have a game with the red-hot Phoenix Suns coming up on Wednesday.

But, all in all, they should be okay.

Cavs Cover

With their system back in place, Cleveland will make the game close. They will cover as underdogs.

Betting Pick: Cleveland Cavaliers +6