The Denver Nuggets (15-13) stop by the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse for a 7 p.m. ET tip-off at the Cleveland Cavaliers (10-19) Friday. Below, we analyze the Nuggets-Cavaliers NBA odds and lines, with picks and predictions.
What started out as a promising season for Cleveland (8-7 in the first 15 games) turned into a dumpster-fire year with the Cavaliers shopping around league-leading rebounder big Andre Drummond. After winning Feb. 1, the Cavs have lost eight consecutive games and haven’t covered in 11 straight.
Denver have dropped back-to-back games following a three-game winning streak, which started with a 133-95 mopping of the Cavs Feb. 10 and wrapped up with an impressive 122-105 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Nuggets at Cavaliers: Odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 12:50 p.m. ET.
- Money line: Nuggets -350 (bet $350 to win $100) | Cavaliers +275 (bet $100 to win $275)
- Against the spread/ATS: Nuggets -8.5 (-110) | Cavaliers +8.5 (-110)
- Over/Under: 225.5 (O: -115 | U: -105)
Nuggets at Cavaliers: Key injuries
Nuggets
- PF JaMychal Green (shoulder) probable
- SF Will Barton (personal) out
- SG Gary Harris (thigh) out
- PF Paul Millsap (knee) out
Cavaliers
- PG Matthew Dellavedova (concussion) questionable
- C Andre Drummond (team decision) out
- PF Kevin Love (calf) out
- PF Larry Nance (finger) out
- SF Taurean Prince (ankle)
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Nuggets at Cavaliers: Odds, lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Nuggets 122, Cavaliers 111
Money line (ML)
PASS on the money line since a Nuggets straight-up win is too expensive. As bad as the Cavs are right now, Cleveland winning wouldn’t even be the biggest upset this week.
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Against the spread (ATS)
Slight lean on NUGGETS -8.5 (-110) for a quarter-unit partially as a play on Denver, but also against Cleveland.
The Cavs are injured and checked out. Drummond is shelved until he’s traded and their leading-scorer, guard Collin Sexton, has a minus-29 net rating in his career vs. the Nuggets. Cleveland is bad in most areas and needs Sexton to get buckets in order to keep these games against good teams tight.
The Nuggets are 9-1 overall with the highest spread differential and the highest net efficiency vs. bottom 10 offenses, according to CleaningTheGlass.com.
Furthermore, Cleveland is just 0-5 ATS this season when spotted 7.5-9.5 points. Even the banged-up Nuggets have enough bodies to roll the Cavs.
Over/Under (O/U)
Cleveland went Under the total by a half-point in its last game at the Golden State Warriors, but four straight Overs cashed prior. A major reason is the Cavs having the worst defensive rating and allowing the most points in the paint this month.
However, they do score roughly eight points more per game at home, and the Over is 5-1-1 in Cavaliers last seven games as a home ‘dog.
TAKE OVER 225.5 (-105) for a half-unit.
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Also see:
- MVP Race: Rudy Gobert enters the Top 10 (Hoops Hype)
- Nuggets at Cavaliers: Lineups, injury reports and broadcast info for Friday (Rookie Wire)
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