Cleveland Cavaliers Travel to Brooklyn to Face the Nets

As the NBA continues to ramp toward the playoffs, teams are beginning to rest players. For a good reason, teams that have already secured a spot are sitting their best players.

We could see the Cleveland Cavaliers do that in this game against Brooklyn. Cleveland currently ranks seventh in the Eastern Conference, so why would they risk hurting players in this game?

The same could be said for the Brooklyn Nets, who have landed the “play-in” position. Now, the Nets haven’t begun to rest players yet. In fact, Kevin Durant just had a 55-point game in a loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

Since they haven’t decided to rest him, we can imagine that they won’t be resting players yet. As we near the game, we’ll learn more about the official lineups and players.

Game Preview: Cleveland Cavaliers at Brooklyn Nets April 8th

The Cleveland Cavaliers have landed their spot in the playoffs because of incredible defense. Against the Nets, they’ll look to show off this defense again. In a recent win over the New York Knicks, the Cavaliers allowed just 101 points.

Unfortunately, they followed that win up with a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. They allowed Joel Embiid to score 44 points on them that game.

The Brooklyn Nets, at the time of writing, are on a two-game losing streak. They kicked it off with a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks and followed up with a loss to the Hawks.

The Nets are a little out of sync right now, which is why we think they won’t rest players. The smarter move is to get everyone on the same page before the play-in game. So, who’s the better team to bet on?

Cleveland Cavaliers at Brooklyn Nets Betting Prediction

Interestingly enough, the Cavaliers won the last game they played against the Brooklyn Nets. Of course, the Cavaliers were at home in that game, where they’ve gone 24-16 this season.

They came in as four-point favorites and won the game 114-107. Yet again, the Cavaliers showed their defensive dominance in this win. Still, they’ve gone 1-2 in their last three against Brooklyn.

This time, the Brooklyn Nets are the home team, giving them a slight advantage. Now that Kyrie Irving is cleared to play at home, the Nets are a much different team.

They’ve gone 3-2 over their last five games at home and shouldn’t be favored by much here. In fact, they could come in as underdogs again. This leads us to take the Brooklyn Nets in this Friday night game. 

When betting on the total, once again, consider the Cleveland defense. Even in their loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, the Cavaliers only gave up 112 points. In a loss to the Chicago Bulls, they only allowed 98.

On average, the Cavaliers allow 105.13 points per game, ranking fourth in the NBA. With that being said, the best bet in this one is the Brooklyn Nets, under.

* All odds provided by Action247 Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
**All views expressed are my own. My picks are my own and are not a guarantee, bet at your own risk.