The NBA Season is here, and we have had some solid games so far. We are beginning to wrap up premiere week, but we still have plenty of games left for this weekend slate. I actually think this will be a somewhat competitive game, but the spread has me a little thrown off personally. Injuries plague this matchup, but still picking Detroit as favorites is surprising. I just think that Cleveland will win this one straight up, so having Detroit as favorites is surprising to me.
Cleveland Looks to Build Off of Their Season Opener Victory
Cleveland has been trying to rebuild ever since LeBron James left, and while I don’t think they are making any title runs this season, I do think they have a talented young squad with a bright future. I think this team will find success this year and actually have some fun and interesting games. In their season opener, they scored 121 points (7th) while shooting a solid 52.87% from the floor.
On the defensive end of the floor, the Cavs struggled in their opener. They seemed way more focused on offense than defense; that won’t be a winning formula in the long run. Regardless, I think this defense will be able to stop them. In their only game this season, the Cavs allowed 114.0 points (18th) and allowed 50.0% shooting from the floor (23rd).
Detroit Will Need Players to Step Up if They Hope To Keep This Close
If Detroit has any hopes of keeping this one close other players on this team will need to step up. When you look at their last performance, that just didn’t happen, and I don’t think that changes here. In their opener, Detroit scored 101 points (25th) on 48.39% shooting from the floor (10th).
On the other end, Detroit actually played well, I mean not well enough to grab the win, but still pretty solid numbers. Detroit is a team that I genuinely have not understood their plan for at least a decade. They are constantly bad. They struggle every year, they can’t attract big free agents, and their draft picks never amount to much. I just think this young Cavs squad will run the floor on them. In their opener, Detroit allowed 111 points (14th) and only allowed 43.18% shooting from the floor (8th).
Notable Trends
From Covers.com
- Detroit is 1-8 ATS in their last 9 games played in December
- Detroit is 0-11 SU in their last 11 games against an opponent in the Eastern Conference conference
- Cleveland is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games against Detroit
- Cleveland is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games played in December