Cleveland Cavaliers (1-2) vs. Denver Nuggets (2-0)
October 25, 2021 9:00 pm EDT
The Line: Denver Nuggets -10.5; Over/Under: -
(Get latest betting odds)
The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Denver Nuggets duke it out at the Ball Arena on Monday night.
The Cleveland Cavaliers will be feeling much better after snapping a two-game skid with a 101-95 upset win over the Hawks on Saturday. Ricky Rubio led the team with 23 points, six rebounds and eight assists, Evan Mobley added 17 points with 11 rebounds and four blocks while Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton and Kevin Love each scored 12 points. As a team, the Cavaliers shot just 41 percent from the field and seven of 28 from the 3-point line as they trailed going into halftime, before they went on a pivotal 15-0 to open the third quarter and lead by as many as 14 points. Defensively, the Cavaliers did a great job of holding the Hawks to just 38 percent shooting while keeping them off the free throw line.
Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets have hit the ground running this season as they will be aiming for a third straight win after outlasting the Spurs in a 102-96 home win on Friday. Nikola Jokic led the team with 32 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and three steals, Monte Morris added 13 points while Will Barton chipped in with 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists. As a team, the Nuggets shot 51 percent from the field and nine of 30 from the 3-point line as they found themselves in a real arm wrestle with the Spurs until the third quarter where they were able to use a pivotal 9-0 run to pull away and escape with the narrow win.
Looking at the betting trends, the Cavaliers are 7-24 ATS in their last 31 road games, 0-5 ATS in their last five games against a team above .600 and 16-41-1 ATS in their last 58 games against a team with a winning record. The Nuggets are 2-5 ATS in their last seven home games and 1-5 ATS in their last six games overall.
The Cavaliers were able to stop the rot with an impressive win over the Hawks thanks to a big night from Rubio and great team defense. The Nuggets were a little sloppy with the ball on Friday as they committed a total of 21 turnovers, but that didn’t hurt them and I don’t think that will happen against the Cavaliers in this one. The line is a little hefty, but the Nuggets have looked good and they haven’t played since Friday, so I’m backing them to pull away and win this one comfortably.
