The Cleveland Cavaliers (6-21) will host the Charlotte Hornets (13-21) at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio for an Eastern Conference clash between the Southeast and Central divisions. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM EST and will be broadcasted on FSN. The two teams have not met this season. Most recently, Charlotte mangled Cleveland in the Queen City by a score of 124-97 to cover easily as an 8.5-point favorite when they last met on April 9th, last season.
Charlotte Hornets at Cleveland Cavaliers Key Injury Concerns
Hornets Shooting Guard Nicolas Batum remains a question mark as he has sat out the last four games with a hand injury.
Charlotte Hornets at Cleveland Cavaliers Overview
Charlotte Hornets
The Hornets step into this contest off a 110-102 victory against the Sacramento Kings when the Hornets hosted the Kings last night in Charlotte. The win saw the Hornets produce an upset winning outright as a five-point underdog.
Cleveland Cavaliers
On the flip-side, the Cavaliers step into this match-up on a more somber note. Most recently, Cleveland traveled to the Great White North on Monday to face off with the defending champion, the Toronto Raptors and was defeated handily by a score of 133-113. The result saw the Cavaliers fail to cover as a 12.5-point underdog. The Cavs have won just once in their last ten games and have not been kind to backers either going 3-7 ATS over this span.
Reasons To Avoid Charlotte
This contest will be the tail-end of a back-to-back for the Hornets, and thus the pricing here for the Hornets is an appropriate one as they were traveling 500 miles to play this match on limited rest. This is a tall order for any team to tackle, but this places the Hornets in peril as Charlotte is just 5-10 SU outside of the Queen City this season. Moreover, the Hornets are not one to be counted on to be competitive in road games as they lose by an average of 9.5 points in away contests. Since we are being asked to lay a fraction of that total here with the Cavs, the value is certainly not on the Hornets.
Reasons To Back Cleveland
This is Cleveland’s first game back home after a three-game road trip. Historically, backing a team in its first game back home from a road trip of three games or more is a profitable position to play on. However, what really resonates with me is the fact that Cleveland has gone from a double-digit underdog in its last six outings to the chalk here despite producing a 2-4 ATS record over this previous span. From the naked eye, Charlotte looks too easy, and seemingly 64% of the consensus seems to agree with that.
Nevertheless, when an underdog becomes a popular choice, it is often a sign that the favorite is undervalued, and that will likely be the case here. After all, Cleveland offers far less market appeal. Under most other circumstances, the Cavaliers would be laying more points, but as a result of the aforementioned, the Cavaliers are likely short-priced here because of the public’s reluctance to get on-board with them. This translates to the Cavs offering tremendous equity.
- Get more details: Charlotte at Cleveland NBA Match-up Stats
