basketball | Monday, December 26, 2022 1:10 PM

Cleveland Cavaliers vs Brooklyn Nets Best Bet: Red-Hot Nets Keep Winning

Milan Stanojic

Cleveland Cavaliers vs Brooklyn Nets Best Bet: Monday, December 26th

The Cleveland Cavaliers welcome the Brooklyn Nets tonight at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse for the first of their 4 encounters this season. The Nets won in 3 of their 4 meetings last year, but the bookmakers expect the Cavaliers to take this one tonight.

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Cleveland Cavaliers vs Brooklyn Nets Preview
Cleveland Cavaliers vs Brooklyn Nets Best Bet

Cleveland Cavaliers vs Brooklyn Nets Preview

Mon, Dec 26th. 23:00 (UK time)

The Cleveland Cavaliers are in excellent shape this season, sitting in 3rd place in the east with 22 wins and 12 losses. The addition of Donovan Mitchell to their roster was definitely a smart move, with the guard averaging 28.9 points per game. They have won 7 of their last 10 games, but are coming off an unexpected 107-118 loss to the Toronto Raptors at home. The Cavs didn’t do a good job defending the perimeter as the Raptors made 51.4% of their 3-pointers, and got outmuscled on the boards, giving up 11offensive rebounds.

The Cavs have been f the best team in the NBA on the defensive end, ranking 1st in defensive rating whilst allowing just 104.9 points per game and keeping opponents to just 45.5% from the field. Their offensive game hasn’t been the best, but it has been good enough to get them over the edge in many tight games. That said, they are by far the slowest team in the league, which negatively impacts their number of possessions, and they are 29th with just 100.5.

The Brooklyn Nets had a challenging start to the season, but their recent surge in form has allowed them to win a lot of games and ascend the Eastern Conference standings. The Nets are on an 8-game winning streak, have won 9 of their last 10, and are now 4th in the east, just 3 wins away from the top spot. They are coming off a dominant 118-100 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks at home and are starting a short 3-game road trip tonight in Cleveland. Despite struggling early on, the Nets actually have a positive road record of 9-7 and have been respectable against the spread.

The Nets have been surprisingly good on the defensive end too, ranking 10th in defensive rating and allowing just 111.1 points per game. They have gotten even better during this recent stint, but what’s really been their bread and butter has been their offence. Shocking, I know, but when you’ve got KD and Kyrie on your roster, it’s hard not to score points. But as good as these two have been, it hasn’t been a two-man show, and they’ve been getting solid contributions from Ben Simmons, their role players and the bench.

Cleveland Cavaliers vs Brooklyn Nets Best Bet

When it comes to how well these two teams match up, it’s fair to say we can expect a very tight game. The Cavs have been better on defence this year, but the Nets’ offence is by far the more efficient. The Cavaliers have been outstanding at home this season with a record of 16-3, but their recent loss against Toronto has left a bitter taste.

The Nets won 3 out of their last 4 games against this team last year. The Cavaliers have gotten better since, but when I saw the Nets were (slight) dogs, I knew what the play was going to be. The Nets are in better shape, have better offence and more reliable superstars. You can bet the Cavaliers will be looking to bounce back at home tonight, and I expect a very tight game. However, in such situations, the team that has the better superstars usually comes out on top.