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Cleveland @ Denver
Current Records: Cleveland 25-14; Denver 25-13
The Cleveland Cavaliers have enjoyed the comforts of home their last two games, but now they must head out on the road. They will square off against the Denver Nuggets at 9 p.m. ET Friday at Ball Arena. These two teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous games.
Cleveland skirted by the Phoenix Suns 90-88 on Wednesday thanks to a clutch jumper from power forward Evan Mobley with 0:04 remaining. Among those leading the charge for the Cavaliers was small forward Caris LeVert, who shot 5-for-7 from beyond the arc and finished with 21 points and six boards. LeVert hadn’t helped his team much against the Chicago Bulls on Monday, so this was a nice turnaround for him.
Meanwhile, Denver couldn’t have asked for a better start to 2023 than the 122-91 stomp they dished out against the Los Angeles Clippers at home on Thursday. With the Nuggets ahead 66-32 at the half, the contest was all but over already. The top scorers for Denver were point guard Jamal Murray (18 points) and point guard Nah’Shon Hyland (16 points).
Cleveland is expected to lose this next one by 6.5. Those betting on them against the spread shouldn’t have high expectations for them since the team is 1-3 ATS when expected to lose.
Cleveland came out on top in a nail-biter against Denver when the two teams previously met in March of last year, sneaking past 119-116. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Cavaliers since the squad won’t have home-court advantage. We’ll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
The Nuggets are a solid 6.5-point favorite against the Cavaliers, according to the latest NBA odds.
The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Nuggets as a 7.5-point favorite.
Over/Under: -110
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Cleveland have won eight out of their last 14 games against Denver.
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