basketball | Wednesday, December 21, 2022 11:34 AM (Revised at: Wednesday, December 21, 2022 11:51 AM)

Cleveland Cavaliers vs Milwaukee Bucks Best Bet: Cavs Get Revenge

Milan Stanojic

Cleveland Cavaliers vs Milwaukee Bucks Best Bet: Wednesday, December 21st

The Cleveland Cavaliers host the Milwaukee Bucks tonight at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse for their third encounter of the season. The Bucks won their first two games at home against the Cavs this year, but the bookmakers are expecting a much more close encounter this time around – and I agree.

In this article:

Cleveland Cavaliers vs Milwaukee Bucks Preview
Cleveland Cavaliers vs Milwaukee Bucks Best Bet

Cleveland Cavaliers vs Milwaukee Bucks Preview

Wed, Dec 21st. 23:00 (UK time)

The Cleveland Cavaliers have come out of the gates firing on all cylinders this season, and are now cruising in 3rd place in the east with 21 wins and 11 losses. They are riding a 4-game winning streak, having won 7 of their last 10 games. This will be the 4th of their 6-game homestand and with their home record of 15-2, backing them is going to be a very good idea. They are coming off a 122-99 win against the Utah Jazz where they shot 57.7% from downtown and 61.4% from the field. For tonight, Wilder, Wade and Rubio are out, whilst Lamar Stevens is listed as ‘doubtful’.

Most of their success has come at the hands of their amazing defence. The Cavaliers are ranked 1st in defensive rating this season whilst allowing just 104.4 points per game. After losing twice in a row against the top team in the league, you can expect J.B. Bickerstaff’s boys to be fired up for this one. They’ve been terrific at home with an ATS record of 11-4-2 (3rd best in the league) and I expect a much better performance out of them this time around. They play great perimeter defence, which will serve them well against a team that ranks 6th in 3-point attempts. If they can take away the Bucks’ long-range game, they should have this one in the bag.

The Bucks have been the best Eastern Conference team so far this year, sitting atop the standings with 22 wins and 8 losses. They have also won 7 of their last 10 games, including their last 2. They are coming off a 119-128 road win against the Pelicans where Giannis went off for 42 points, followed by Brook Lopez with 30. But as good as the Bucks have been this season, they do have some weak points. Did you know that their offensive rating drops from 117.9 when playing at home to 104.5 on the road (30th in the NBA)? You do now. The same goes for their points output, which drops from 118.2 to a mere 106.5 (28th in the NBA). Interesting. Their defence has been consistently good though, and they are the 2nd-ranked team in the entire league.

Cleveland Cavaliers vs Milwaukee Bucks Best Bet

The bookmakers expect a very close and low-scoring encounter here tonight, and for once I completely agree. Both teams play terrific defence, and the Bucks’ offence falls off a cliff whenever they leave Fiserv Forum. They have covered the spread in 5 of their 13 road games this season, and I’m expecting the Cavs to get their revenge tonight. They have been terrific at home this year and are in excellent form at the moment.