Denver Nuggets vs. Cleveland Cavaliers predictions pick betting line spread

Denver Nuggets at Cleveland Cavaliers odds, picks and predictions

Analyzing Thursday’s Denver Nuggets at Cleveland Cavaliers odds and lines, with NBA expert picks, predictions and best bets.

The Denver Nuggets (41-18) face the Cleveland Cavaliers (38-23) on Thursday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Nuggets vs. Cavaliers odds, and make our expert NBA picks and predictions.

The Nuggets defeated the Dallas Mavericks 118-109 as 6.5-point home favorites the Wednesday before the All-Star break. Denver owns the best record in the Western Conference and is 5 games ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Cavaliers lost 118-112 as 2-point road underdogs to the Philadelphia 76ers last Wednesday. Cleveland has still won 8 of its last 10 games and is the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Denver won the 1st meeting with Cleveland on Jan. 6, covering as 5.5-point home favorites in a 121-108 victory where the 221.5 Over connected.

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Nuggets at Cavaliers odds

Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 8:52 a.m. ET.

Moneyline (ML): Nuggets +120 (bet $100 to win $120) | Cavaliers -140 (bet $140 to win $100)
Against the spread (ATS): Nuggets +2.5 (-108) | Cavaliers -2.5 (-112)
Over/Under (O/U): 223.5 (O: -108 | U: -112)

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Nuggets at Cavaliers key injuries

Nuggets

F Aaron Gordon (rib) out
G Jamal Murray (knee) questionable

Cavaliers

G Ricky Rubio (knee) out

For most recent updates: Official NBA injury report.

Nuggets at Cavaliers picks and predictions

Prediction

Cavaliers 116, Nuggets 111

Moneyline

With how well they perform at home, the CAVALIERS (-140) are the pick here, although betting the spread offers better value. Cleveland is 25-6 at home while Denver is 14-14 on the road.

Against the spread

CAVALIERS -2.5 (-112) is the ideal choice in this game. The Nuggets won’t have Gordon to help defend the Cavaliers’ talented frontcourt duo of F Evan Mobley and C Jarrett Allen.

The Cavaliers are 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games following an ATS loss and are 20-10-1 ATS at home.

Over/Under

BET OVER 223.5 (-108).

While the Cavaliers play at the slowest pace in the NBA, both of these teams are top 10 in offensive rating. Denver is also making 51.2% of its shots (best in the NBA) while Cleveland converts 48.9% of its shots (5th-best).

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Denver Nuggets at Cleveland Cavaliers odds, picks and predictions

Analyzing Friday’s Denver Nuggets at Cleveland Cavaliers and lines, with NBA expert picks, predictions and best bets.

The Cleveland Cavaliers (39-30) host the Denver Nuggets (42-28) Friday at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse for a 7:30 p.m. ET tip-off. Below, we look at the Nuggets vs. Cavaliers odds and lines, and make our expert NBA picks, predictions and bets.

Denver has won back-to-back road games — 114-110 at the Philadelphia 76ers Monday and 127-109 at he Washington Wizards Wednesday. The Nuggets are 6-2 straight up (SU) and 4-4 against the spread (ATS) in the last two weeks.

Cleveland has lost 3 of its last 4 games, which includes a 118-114 loss at home to the Sixers, pushing as 4-point home underdogs. The Cavs are 3-4 SU, but 4-2-1 ATS in the last 14 days.

The Cavs clobbered the Nuggets 99-87 in Cleveland Oct. 25, outscoring Denver in 3 of 4 quarters and outperforming it in all “four factors”.

Nuggets 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 1:36 p.m. ET.

Money line (ML): Nuggets -155 (bet $155 to win $100) | Cavaliers +122 (bet $100 to win $122)
Against the spread: Nuggets -2.5 (-120) | Cavaliers +2.5 (-105)
Over/Under (O/U): 224.5 (O: -115 | U: -107)

Nuggets at Cavaliers key injuries

Nuggets

PG Jamal Murray (knee) out
PF Michael Porter Jr. (back) out

Cavaliers

C Jarrett Allen (finger) out
F Dean Wade (knee) out

[tipico]

Nuggets at Cavaliers odds, lines, picks and predictions

Prediction

Nuggets 116, Cavaliers 110

Money line

BET the NUGGETS (-155) because these teams are much different compared to when they met earlier this season.

For instance, the Cavaliers were much healthier with an injured Allen and SG Collin Sexton both in the starting 5 and former backup PG Ricky Rubio was giving Cleveland good minutes before his season-ending injury.

On the other hand, the Nuggets are 12 games above .500 despite missing two key contributors because Nikola Jokic has increased his production and usage throughout the season.

Jokic has been even more dominant this season than last year when he won the MVP. He could really own the paint in this matchup since Cleveland is sans Allen and Mobley is still a rookie.

Furthermore, Denver’s win probability based on the money line is 60.8% and the Nuggets are 12-4 SU as road favorites while the Cavs are 3-9 SU as home underdogs.

The bottom line is the NUGGETS (-155) win this game more than 61% of the time.

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Against the spread

LEAN to the NUGGETS -2.5 (120) because they should win by margin, but I much prefer Denver’s money line (ML).

Also, the Nuggets are percolating and the Cavs are struggling. According to CleaningTheGlass.com, Denver has a plus-5.5 adjusted net rating (ranked 10th) the last two weeks while Cleveland has a minus-2.0 adjusted net rating (ranked 17th).

Denver’s ML is my favorite wager in this game but the NUGGETS -2.5 (-120) is the right side here.

Over/Under

PASS because I prefer the Over 224.5 (-115) since the first Nuggets-Cavaliers meeting went Under the total by 34.5 points.

But, a vast majority of the market is backing the Over, which has steamed the total up from a 221-point look-ahead line, according to Pregame.com.

Since we’d be getting the worst of the number and following the herd, I have no choice but to PASS.

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