Game Time: 10:00 PM ET, Friday, January 7th, 2022 

Venue:  Moda Center, Portland, Oregon

Where to Watch:  NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread: Cavs -4; O/U 215.5

BetMGM:  Spread:  NL

VegasInsider:  Spread:  Cavs -4; O/U 215.5

WynnBet: Spread: Cavs -5; O/U 216.5

Cavaliers: 21-17, 6th place Eastern Conference

Trail Blazers: 14-23, 12th place Western Conference

A matchup of opponents who in the span of a year seem to have swapped places in the NBA hierarchy.  The Cleveland Cavaliers have ascended and the Portland Trail Blazers have imploded.  

The Cavaliers lost their last game to the Memphis Grizzlies 110-106.  They needed a win and didn’t get it.  The Cavs have only won 1 out of their last five games.  The losing coincides with starting PG Ricky Rubio joining the previous starting PG Colin Sexton on the Injury list… the diagnosis is the same… Out for the year.  The cavs had to make a move to right the ship and keep the momentum… so they made a small trade to pick up PG Rajon Rondo from the Los Angeles Lakers.  Rondo joined the team and was immediately put on the covid list… so the PG position is still thin.  Once Rondo gets going with the team he’ll join a stellar young squad  featuring potential ROY PF Evan Mobley, stellar young SG Darius Garland,... This team has the real potential to be contenders if they are able to move PF Kevin Love for the right pieces.  The team most often mentioned as a destination for Kevin Love is…

The Portland Trail Blazers have won 3 of their last 10 games and they aren’t even a safe bet since they are 3-7 ATS over the last ten games.  The problem is, of course Portland has 2 star players in PG Damian Lilliard and SG CJ McCollum.  Both players have missed time from injury and both players are out now.  CJ McCollum has a partially collapsed lung and there is no clear time table for his return.  Damian Lilliard has a strained abdominal and will be out until at least mid-January.  The word around the league is that Damian Lilliard is on the way out.  He is too loyal to the city of Portland and the fans there to ask for a trade publicly, but behind the scenes he is looking for a way out.  The team may have to trade him anyway… they have tried dozens of roster machinations around Dame and the only constant is that they have never completely gotten it right and Dame has ended up carrying the team every year anyway.  To really become something the team may have to trade Dame and CJ in separate deals and try to build a winner out of the pieces and picks they get back.

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Cleveand is 21-17 on the season, but 25-12-1 ATS.  They have logged 15 Overs and 23 Unders.  They are 10-8 in road games.

Portland is 14-23 on the season, but 13-23-1 ATS.  They have notched 18 Overs, 18 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are a wonderful 12-10 in home games.  (The road record is an abysmal 2-13)

The Cavaliers are 19th in scoring with 107.7 points per game, 11th in rebounds with 45.5 per, and 15th in AST/TO with 1.7.    They are shooting the ball well at 11th in FG%, 14th in 3PT%, and 11th in FT%.  The defense is amazing thanks to C Jarrett Allen and his attitude bleeding into everyone else.  The Cavs are 2nd on defense only allowing 102.6 ppg.

The Trail Blazers are 13th in scoring with 109.0 points per game, 24th in rebounds with 43.5 per, and 18th in AST/TO ratio with 1.7.  They are 21st in FG%, 12th in 3PT%, and 9th in FT%....  The defensive end is beyond lacking.  They are ranked 27th defensively while allowing 113.2 ppg.

Our prediction for Friday, January 7th is…. Cavaliers 118 - Trail Blazers 99

The Cavaliers are thin at point guard, but the Trail Blazers are thin everywhere.  

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Cleveland is 10-5 ATS in non-conference games this season.

Cleveland is 4-0 ATS against Northwest division opponents this season.

Portland is 3-13 ATS as an underdog this season.

Cavs: PG Ricky Rubio (knee) Out ** PG Colin Sexton (knee) Out ** PG Rajon Rondo (illness) Out ** SF Isaac Okoro (elbow) Out

Blazers: PG Damian Lilliard (abs) Out ** SG CJ McCollum (lung) Out ** SF Larry Nance Jr (knee) Questionable ** PF Cody Zeller (quad) Out

Cavs: PF Evan Mobley, SF Lauri Markkanen, C Jarrett Allen, SG Lamar Stevens, PG Darius Garland

Blazers: SF Nassir Little, PF Larry Nance Jr, C Jusuf Nurkic, PG Anfernee Simons, SG Norman Powell

Cavaliers

Points: Darius Garland 19.7

Assists: Darius Garland 7.4

Rebounds: Jarrett Allen 10.7

Steals: Ricky Rubio 1.4

Blocks: Evan Mobley 1.8

Trail Blazers

Points: Damian Lilliard 24

Assists: Damian Lilliard 7.3

Rebounds: Jusuf Nurkic 10.1

Steals: Robert Covington 1.3

Blocks: Robert Covington 1.1