The Cleveland Cavaliers (38-29) host the Los Angeles Clippers (36-34) Monday for a 7 p.m. ET tip-off at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Below, we look at the Clippers vs. Cavaliers odds and lines, and make our expert NBA picks, predictions and bets.
L.A. beat the Detroit Pistons 106-102 Sunday and covered as 3.5-point closing road favorites. Since the All-Star break, the Clippers are 6-3 straight up (SU) and against the spread (ATS).
Cleveland is 2-5 SU and 3-4 ATS over the last two weeks, which includes back-to-back road losses at the Miami Heat Friday (117-105) and the Chicago Bulls Saturday (101-91).
The Cavs upset the Clippers 92-79 in L.A. Oct. 27 as 8-point road underdogs to snap a 7-game losing skid in their head-to-head series. L.A. is 8-2 ATS versus Cleveland in their last 10 meetings.
Clippers 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 10:55 a.m. ET.
- Money line (ML): Clippers +190 (bet $100 to win $190) | Cavaliers -240 (bet $240 to win $100)
- Against the spread: Clippers +5.5 (-107) | Cavaliers -5.5 (-115)
- Over/Under (O/U): 210.5 (O: -115 | U: -107)
Clippers at Cavaliers key injuries
Clippers
- PF Robert Covington (personal reasons) questionable
Cavaliers
- C Jarrett Allen (finger) out
- SG Caris LeVert (foot) questionable
- SF Lauri Markkanen (ankle) questionable
- SF Dean Wade (knee) questionable
[tipico]
Clippers at Cavaliers odds, lines, picks and predictions
Prediction
Cavaliers 106, Clippers 98
Money line
PASS because I only lean towards Cleveland covering the spread so there’s no way I’d bet the Cavaliers (-240).
For what it’s worth, the Clippers (+190) are 9-15 SU as road underdogs and 4-7 SU with no rest. The Cavs are 17-3 SU as home favorites but just 7-8 SU when playing with a rest advantage.
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Against the spread
LEAN to the CAVALIERS -5.5 (-115) because both teams are ranked in the top-10 of defensive rating but Cleveland performs better against tough defenses.
According to CleaningTheGlass.com (CTG), the Cavs rank seventh in adjusted net rating versus top-10 defenses and first in ATS margin. Whereas the Clippers are 19th in both adjusted net rating and ATS margin versus top-defenses.
Furthermore, Cleveland is 9-4 ATS when laying 5-7 points, 9-4 ATS at home versus teams with a winning record and 11-8-1 ATS as home favorites with the fourth-best ATS margin at plus-4.1.
Also, the Cavs are being hit by early sharp line movement since Cleveland opened as 5-point favorites but is getting pricier.
The Under is my favorite wager in this game, but I LEAN to the CAVALIERS -5.5 (-115).
Over/Under
BET UNDER 210.5 (-107) for 1 unit.
Not only do both teams have top-10 defenses but we could see a lot of clunky possessions since both also have bottom-10 offensive turnover rates (TOV%). Plus both teams are top-5 in defensive effective field goal shooting and defensive FT/FGA rate.
On top of that, the Cavs are 3-16-1 O/U as home favorites with a minus-8.6 total margin and the Clippers are 10-13-1 O/U as road underdogs with a minus-2.9 total margin.
Finally, a majority of the action is on the Over 210.5 (-115), according to Pregame.com, so we have a “fade the market” handicapping angle as well.
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