The struggling Cleveland Cavaliers remain in the state of Texas, but they’ll travel north to Dallas to face the Mavericks. They have no luxury of overlooking any opponent, but Mavericks are not playing at a high level. They did manage to stop the losing streak, so at least they’ll come into the game in high spirits.
Cavaliers at Mavericks
Spread: Cleveland Cavaliers -5.5 (-110) at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: o/u 219.5 points (-110)
The Cavaliers put in a strong effort, but fall again
Considering how this season is developing, the Cleveland Cavaliers did well not to get run out of the building, hanging tight against the Houston Rockets, but ultimately lost 117-113. This was Cavs’ sixth loss in the last eight games, so moral victory doesn’t count.
Like so many times before this (and previous) season, the Cavaliers wasted a supreme James’ game. LeBron James put the team on his back and finished with 33 points on 15-of-24 shooting in 40 minutes. He drew all the attention of Rockets’ defense to himself, uncovering Jeff Green, who has been moving well without the ball to use the extra space. In Houston, it was Green’s best game in years – 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting, five boards and three steals. These two forwards held the Cavaliers shoot an excellent 55.6 percent from the field – almost ten percent higher than the Rockets. It was not enough as they suffered another letdown on the defensive side. Eager to make the ballgame physical, and throw the Rockets off of their game, the Cavaliers showed effort, but not the precision in protecting their rim. It resulted in a foul fest. All players that played at least 20 minutes had four or more fouls and the Rockets attempted 36 free throws. The Cavs would later whine about the free throw difference, making excuse at the hand of the officiating crew, but the Rockets had almost as many fouls as the Cavaliers (27-to-30). The frustration stemmed from the fact that the referees wouldn’t allow them to dictate how the game was going to be called. Besides James and Green, there were few players who contributed big time. Love and Smith each scored three treys and finished in double digits, but haven’t made much of a mark on the game. Shumpert started over Rose (injury) and it was a part of what ignited some life into the defense. He did a solid job on Harden as well. Wade looked gassed and overworked, and the Cavs would be smart to let him sit out a game or two.
Thompson and Thomas are still out, and Rose is questionable to play. It’s actually better for the Cavs if he stays out, but I don’t think coach Lue understands it. Shumpert would likely start again if he’s a no-go.
Place: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Date/Time: Saturday, November 11th, 2017. 8:00 PM ET
TV Coverage:
Dallas finally breaks the losing streak, surprise the Wizards
The Dallas Mavericks couldn’t find enough of a good form early in the season to cope with a tough schedule. Looking back to the last seven games, the Mavericks only played twice at home, and came close but lost. Of the five road wins, they’ve lost in Utah, to the Clippers in L.A., in Memphis and Minny, before finally winning on in Washington. They still got to play Cleveland, OKC and San Antonio in their next three games, so it’s a collection of playoff teams few could handle.
It resulted in playing below average basketball, magnified flaws and public ridicule. The truth is, the Mavericks aren’t this bad, but aren’t too good either. In Washington, they’ve shown their good face – probably helped by the fact that the Wizards never seem to know how to play as a big favorite. Dallas won 113-99, leading wire-to-wire and looking nothing like a bad team. Carlisle finally realized that they can’t win with Nowitzki playing much, so the big German played for less than 20 minutes. It was almost too much as well, as the Mavericks outscored the Wizards by 22 sans their franchise scoring leader, and were -8 with him on the floor. Harrison Barnes and Dennis Smith teamed up to fill the leading fiddle void. Barnes was very active and aggressive on both sides of the court. He led all scorers with 31 points and had second-most rebounds in either team, behind only Salah Mejri, who was terrific stepping for Dirk with 10 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocked shots in 25 minutes. Smith is going to have bad and good nights, such is the life of a talented rookie, and he held his ground against John Wall – 22 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists night, and not very efficient but still bearable shooting. As a team struggling to score, the Mavericks had a very good game, shooting 47.3 percent from the field. They also outworked the Wiz on the glass, 53-39.
The Mavericks are healthy coming to the game and well rested after a four days layoff. However, this is the first night of a back-to-back set, so we have to account for a potential early pulling of the starters should the game goes out of reach. Dallas plays in OKC on Sunday.
Cleveland Cavaliers at Dallas Mavericks Game Trends & Prediction
The Cleveland Cavaliers actually cover the spread in Houston despite losing, as they were set as 5-6 points underdogs, improving their ATS record to 3-8-1. They are much more solid away from home, going 3-2. The total was well set, so only a few points made the difference, but it was still the fifth consecutive over on their games. Overall, Cleveland games end in over two-thirds of the time, and even at a higher rate outside Ohio (4-1).
Dallas is as poor against the spread. They’ve gone 3-9 so far this season, and were not favored to win any of the games they played. ATS win in Washington snapped a 5-game streak of losing their backers’ wagers. The under did not disappoint, despite the Mavs scoring a season-high in points, but it was as close as it can get. They are 5-6 against the total points lines and they usually face many targets to top.
Admi-Rank: No I’m not a Dallas Mavericks diehard fan. The ranking system is absolutely unbiased, and the reason for having them so high is the tough competition they’ve faced. The Cavaliers freefall finally came to an end, but not before they’ve fallen below the NBA average line. Despite all the losing, they still hold an edge over their next rival.
We’ve seen it before this season – this is another must win for the Cavaliers, but it doesn’t mean that they’ll come out to play with the same poise like they did in Houston. If they do, they’ll likely win and it shouldn’t be as close as the math tells us. Any crystal balls around? No? I guess we’ll have to work with what we had seen so far. And the picture painted is not pretty, no matter which side you take a look from.
The Cavaliers have been set as a 5-point away jolly, which has nothing to do with reality and everything to do with public images of the two. Even with great value on the home side, the public will be en-masse on Cleveland. That leaves us with the decision – will we be on the home dog, or pass the spread wager completely, pretend it’s not there. I’ll leave that decision to you, but let it be known that I’m not going to pass any opportunity with such a large value. The market opened with totals line set at 219.5 points, and it will likely go up a few notches, as the Cavs’ overs are becoming increasingly popular. Again, like with the spread, I’m going to play the contrarian, and go with the smart money, on under points.
My Pick: Dallas +5.5 (-110)
Total: Under 219.5 points (-110)
