The Cleveland Cavaliers will have a good opportunity to make up for the home loss to a lower-tiered team when they host lowly Chicago Bulls team on Tuesday night. It’s a dangerous situation though, as a new loss would raise quite a few eyebrows. The Bulls may not be good enough to pull out a surprise though.
Bulls at Cavaliers
Spread: Cleveland -14 (-105) at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: o/u 207.5 points (-110)
The Bulls struggle to score in the loss to the Spurs
What started off as a fairly sloppy, back-and-forth first half, led to an even miserable second – the Chicago Bulls lost their home game against the shorthanded Spurs team, 77-87. To say that the Bulls shot poorly would be an understatement. They were just 8-28 from the three-point range (despite, anecdotally, Robin Lopez hitting a three, a career first!), and shot 37.8 percent from the field overall. It gets worse. They only attempted 9 free throws the entire game, failing to get any penetration that would matter. The Spurs weren’t brilliant themselves, but manage to create a good look from Chicago’s 20 turnovers.
It was a game played exactly at the Spurs liking, who showed superior basketball intelligence and understanding of how to win a game against these Bulls. With no playmaking and backcourt chemistry, the Bulls guards are on the first line of blame. Jerian Grant started once again, but had no impact on the game despite playing 33 minutes. He finished with 13 points, missing all of his three-point attempts and committed 5 turnovers to offset his 5 assists. His backcourt running partner Justin Holiday is neither a starter level and it showed. During his court time of 36 minutes, he was 5-of-18, as the Bulls needed someone who can create his own shot. The bright spot on the roster so far is the young Finn Lauri Markannen. He didn’t do much to impress, but does not hurt his team’s chances. He led the team in minutes and has a nice 13 points, 12 rebounds double-double to show for. Robin Lopez was efficient again, scoring 16 points to lead his team for the second consecutive time. With a risk of repeating myself, an offense is in a big trouble when it’s happening.
To continue reporting about the Portis-Mirotic conflict, let me just inform you that Portis tried to correct his public image by releasing an official apology for his actions, but it’s also worth noting that Mirotic wouldn’t return his calls. Both players will be unavailable for a prolonged period of time. In addition, the Bulls remain shorthanded in the backcourt, where LaVine, Dunn, and Payne remain sidelined. Dunn is the closest of the three to return. He got his stitches removed and is games away from dressing up. Denzel Valentine did play against the Spurs despite a little knee soreness, so he should be OK going forward.
Place: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Date/Time: Tuesday, October 24th, 2017. 7:00 PM ET
TV Coverage: NBATV, FSOHIO
Could a home loss to the Magic help the Cavaliers in a long term?
The Cleveland Cavaliers looked mortal on Saturday night, losing 93-114 to the Orlando Magic at home. It’s a surprisingly bad showing for the Cavs who had previously beaten the Celtics and the Bucks. It was Orlando’s first win over Cleveland since 2012, so it was bound to happen by the laws of averages. It was the rout that was surprising, not the loss.
The Cavaliers never led and faced a 21-point deficit as early as late in the first quarter. It was as if only LeBron James came to play, as he scored 14 points in the opening period, so I’m sure he let his teammates know about it in the locker room after the game. After trailing by 16 entering the second quarter, the Cavs outscored the Magic 27-20 in the second to make it an 11-point game entering halftime, but it was all for naught as the Magic found their shooting stroke again in the third, outscoring the Cavs 32-20 in it. Jose Calderon made the start Saturday against the Magic, subbing in for Rose who rolled an ankle and missed the game, but it would be unfair to pin this loss on the Spaniard. Wade looked old, Jae Crowder was scoreless and Love couldn’t connect on the deep shots. Shumpert tried to pick up the offensive slack with 21 points and 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point territory, but the team was too sluggish to be helped. The Cavaliers were undone by their poor defense, and it was really disappointing to let Magic, who had played without Aaron Gordon and Elfrid Payton, have their way both on the perimeter and on the block. They miss Tristan Thompson’s defense badly, and the Love-at-center experiment could end earlier than we thought.
Rose is doubtful to play against Chicago, but the Cavaliers don’t have any other option past Calderon. Shumpert did start the third quarter against the Magic, but it was more a product of being hot-handed than anything else. With Wade and James in playmaking roles, the Cavaliers could start TT, but having the Bulls for the next opposition, they would probably continue with the small lineup. This is the first game of a back-to-back set for the Cavs, as they play on Wednesday in Brooklyn, so it’s possible that they’ll distribute minutes across the roster, depending on how the game goes. Ideally, they would like to have it decided by halftime.
Chicago Bulls at Cleveland Cavaliers Game Trends & Prediction
The Chicago Bulls were big underdogs in both of their games last week. They are a poor team, a shorthanded team and were playing some serious opposition, so it’s not surprising at all. This will continue as long as they can’t cover. They’d come into the Cleveland game with a 0-2 ATS record, except the spread rose to +10 (and even +10.5 at some bookies), right before the tipoff. Officially, they covered against the Spurs, but that doesn’t change the fact that most of their backer lost their money on both of their games. The game was also an under, so they also have a split in the total points market.
Cavaliers’ only time covering the spread was away in Milwaukee. Both times at home, they failed to deliver. Total points followed the same scheme – the only time they surpassed the expected line was away from home. Therefore, the Cavs records for both ATS and O/U betting are 1-2 coming into this game.
A unique ranking system – AdmiRank helps you understand how good NBA teams are on a scale to 100. Bad showing against the Magic caused the Cavs to slip a bit. The Bulls are also trending downwards, but their expectations aren’t high anyway. There’s a big difference between the two sides.
Mark this down, the Cavaliers will not allow the Bulls to take this one, not after dropping a home game to the Magic. There are two problems with it. For one, everybody else knows it. And, this doesn’t mean that they’ll cover with the large spread and the Brooklyn game looming.
The bookies weren’t gentle with the handicap. Cleveland is set to be a 14-point home favorite, a number that should rarely be considered. There are new lows that the Bulls can reach, so there’s no way I’m even considering them for a spread wager, and can’t bet on Cavs with these odds. Instead, I’ll be looking for the overs. The Cavs aren’t hitting their open shots and as this game is going to be over early, I can see the reserve unit of the hosts allowing plenty of points to whomever the Bulls can play in the fourth. Total point line of 207.5 isn’t going to scare me away, but I’ll need some help from the Bulls. Additionally, if you’ll be online by halftime, there’s a decent possibility to hunt for the live, 2nd half over. I’d be happy to get over 104 points for the second half only, should the game develop as it should.
My Pick: (no wager on the spread here)
Total: over 207.5 points (-110)
