Cleveland Cavaliers (30-20) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (23-25)
January 27, 2023 8:00 pm EDT
The Line: Oklahoma City Thunder +1.5; Over/Under: +222.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Cleveland Cavaliers travel to the Paycom Center to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have been in decent form as they’ve split their last 10 games and they will be looking to stay hot after blowing past the lowly Rockets in a 113-95 road win last night. Darius Garland led the team with 26 points and nine assists on nine of 16 shooting, Evan Mobley added 21 points with 10 rebounds and two blocks while Dean Wade chipped in with 15 points. As a team, the Cavaliers shot 45 percent from the field and 15 of 36 from the 3-point line as they made sure to come out swinging and never looked in danger after dominating the first half by 74-48.
Meanwhile, the Oklahoma City Thunder have been in great shape as they’ve won seven of their last 10 games overall, but they will be hoping to bounce back in this one after falling just short to the Hawks in a 137-132 loss on Wednesday. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the team with 36 points and seven assists on 13 of 22 shooting, Jalen Williams added 24 points on 11 of 16 shooting while Josh Giddey tallied 16 points with eight rebounds and six assists. As a team, the Thunder shot 52 percent from the field and 15 of 34 from the 3-point line as they went back and forth with the Hawks in a high-scoring first half, before they cooled off in the third quarter and allowed the Hawks to take the lead. The Thunder were always within striking distance, but they just needed more support from their reserves as no bench player finished in double figures in scoring.
Looking at the betting trends, the Cavaliers are 5-13-2 ATS in their last 20 road games and 1-6 ATS in their last seven games following a win of more than 10 points. The Thunder are 4-1 ATS in their last five home games, 7-0-1 ATS in their last eight games against a team with a winning record and 8-1-1 ATS in their last 10 games overall.
Head to head, the Cavaliers are 3-1-1 ATS in the last five meetings in Oklahoma City.
The Cavaliers could be shorthanded again as Donovan Mitchell and Kevin Love are both listed as day to day, while the Thunder will be missing Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Luguentz Dort. This is certainly a game where you want to check the lineups before tipoff, but assuming that Mitchell is out for the Cavaliers, I’m happy to take the Thunder who are 8-1-1 ATS in their last 10 games overall.
