The Brooklyn Nets (27-15) stop by Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Monday to play the Cleveland Cavaliers (26-18) at 3 p.m. ET. Below, we look at the Nets vs. Cavaliers odds and lines, and make our expert NBA picks, predictions and bets.
Cleveland enters on a four-game win streak (2-1-1 ATS) with the most recent being a push as a 5-point favorite in a 107-102 victory at the Oklahoma City Thunder Saturday. The Cavs are 28-14-2 ATS and 17-27 O/U.
Brooklyn has alternated between wins and losses in its last eight games (4-4 overall and 2-6 ATS), which includes a 120-105 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans Saturday at home. The Nets are 17-25 ATS and 20-22 O/U.
The Nets have beaten the Cavs in both regular-season meetings thus far (1-1 ATS) and have won three straight games versus Cleveland.
Nets at Cavaliers odds, spread and lines
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 10:03 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Nets +125 (bet $100 to win $125) | Cavaliers -155 (bet $155 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Nets +3.5 (-112) | Cavaliers -3.5 (-108)
- Over/Under (O/U): 221.5 (O: -107 | U: -115)
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Nets at Cavaliers key injuries
Nets
- SF Kevin Durant (knee) out
- C LaMarcus Aldridge (foot) probable
- C Nic Claxton (hamstring) questionable
Cavaliers
- SG Lamar Stevens (knee) questionable
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Nets at Cavaliers odds, lines, picks and predictions
Prediction
Cavaliers 115, Nets 109
Money line
PASS ON THE MONEY LINE.
I’m confident enough in Cleveland to just lay the points and I don’t want to bet the Cavaliers (-155) outright at this price.
Cleveland is 9-2 straight-up (SU) as a home favorite but Brooklyn is 3-1 SU as a road underdog and the Nets still have two perennial All-Stars to carry them while Durant is sidelined with an injury.
Against the spread
BET the CAVALIERS -3.5 (-108) for 1 unit because of KD’s absence and this is a much better spot for Cleveland.
Call me crazy but I think the Nets could feel the loss of Durant. The forward is averaging an NBA’s best 29.3 points per game (PPG) and is an obvious MVP contender.
KD grades in the 93rd percentile of wings in points per shot attempt and the 74th percentile in adjusted on/off net rating, according to CleaningTheGlass.com (CTG).
Brooklyn will need guards James Harden and Kyrie Irving to step up in KD’s absence but they could have their hands full against Cleveland’s defense.
The length in the Cavs’ frontcourt allows Cleveland to extend its perimeter defense against ball handlers and run out on shooters.
This is the primary reason the Cavs are ninth in defensive 3-point percentage and fifth in defensive effective field goal percentage.
Cleveland also performs better against top-10 defenses and both teams rank in the top-10 of defensive efficiency and is third in adjusted net rating versus teams in the top-10 of adjusted defensive rating and the best ATS margin at a plus-7.5, per CTG.
The Nets are 11th in adjusted net rating versus top-10 defenses and 23rd in ATS margin at a minus-4.5 (CTG).
Also, Brooklyn has trouble stringing covers together and Cleveland doesn’t. The Nets are just 8-18 ATS following a win and the Cavs are 17-6-2 ATS in that spot.
Plus Cleveland is 15-4 ATS versus teams with a winning record, 6-2 ATS at home versus teams with a winning record and 13-6-1 ATS overall at home.
BET the CAVALIERS -3.5 (-108).
Over/Under
Slight “LEAN” to the OVER 221.5 (-107) for a small wager, if at all, because my favorite bet in this game is Cleveland’s spread.
However, Brooklyn has gone Over the total in five of its last six road games and both have gone Over the total in five straight versus teams with a winning record. The Over has also cashed in five consecutive Nets-Cavaliers meetings.
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