NBA Basketball: Cleveland Cavaliers VS Brooklyn Nets Pick and Predictions 03/23/2023

Game: 7:40 PM ET, Thursday, March 23rd, 2023

Venue: Barclay’s Center, Brooklyn, New York

TV:  NBA League Pass

Cavaliers: 46-28, 4th place Eastern Conference

Nets: 39-33, 6th place Eastern Conference

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Cavs -4.5, O/U 219.5

PointsBet: Point Spread:  Cavs -4, O/U 219

Fanduel: Point Spread:   Cavs -4, O/U 219

Cavs: PG Darius Garland, SG Donovan Mitchell, SF Isaac Okoro, PF Evan Mobley, C Jarrett Allen

Nets: PG Spencer Dinwiddie, SG Mikal Bridges, SF Cameron Johnson, PF Dorian Finney-Smith, C Nic Claxton

An Eastern Conference matchup of NBA Playoff bound teams.  The Cavs and Nets are in similar boats.  They aren’t mentioned among the cream of the Eastern Conference crop… They aren’t referenced when anyone is talking about Finals Contender… but they have both set themselves up to be “Spoilers” or “hard-outs”.... The Cleveland Cavaliers have a very good roster led by a very good superstar in SG Donovan Mitchell.  They may not be setting the league on fire on offense where they are ranked 24th… BUT they are lockdown defensive monsters as they rank 1st in the NBA on defense while holding opponents to 106.6 points per game… Pretty fantastic when you realize that all but two NBA teams average more than 110 points per game.  The Brooklyn Nets are a great disappointment to everybody… They started the season with the idea of pairing three Max Contract superstars together to coast their way to a title… In SF Kevin Durant they had the league's best pure scorer, in PG Kyrie Irving they had a pure scoring point guard with one of the best crossovers anyone has ever seen, in PF/PG Ben Simmons they had a very young 3X all-star coming off a stint in Philadelphia that ended badly… some thought because of health?… some thought because of a feud with the front office? Turns out Ben Simmons is just no longer a superstar.. He is spent.. He has checked out mentally.. They barely play him anymore… Then Kyrie Irving embarrassed himself, Brooklyn, and the League (like he always does) and after the controversy demanded a trade… he was shipped to Dallas… quietly Durant noticed he was on a sinking ship and asked for a trade.. He was shipped to Phoenix.  So it must be all over for the Nets?... Nope… They got back some very quality pieces in those trades plus some draft assets going forward.  So it is now SF/SG Mikal Bridges, SF/PF Dorian Finney Smith, and SF Cameron Johsnon admirably filling the shoes of the missing superstars.  They aren’t a Finals contender anymore but they are still a good team… They now have more depth than they did.  They can, and have recently, beat some good teams. The great betting opportunity here is in the matchups and trends.  Let’s take a look.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have won 7 of their last 10 games… including a win over THESE SAME Brooklyn Nets 115-109 in their last game.  They went 6-4 ATS during that stretch. In the win they got 31 points from SG Donovan Mitchell, 18 points (off the bench) from SG/SF Caris LaVert, and 12 points & 14 rebounds from underrated Center Jarrett Allen who added 2 blocks. The Cavs attack you as a team… PG Darius Garland chipped in 17 points and PF Evan Mobley chipped in 17 points too.  Everyone except SF Isaac Okoro got in on the act… as far as Isaac he left the game after 20 minutes with a goose egg in the scoring column.. But his defense was pretty good.

The Brooklyn Nets have won 5 of their last 10 games, but are on a horrible 4-game losing streak… as they hit a murderer's row of good teams… CLE, DEN, SAC, OKC (yes OKC is a good team because they have the best young backcourt in the entire NBA).  They lost their last game to THESE SAME Cleveland Cavaliers 115-109.  In the loss they got 18 points from SG Mikal Bridges, 19 points & 11 assists from PG Spencer Dinwiddie, and 20 points from undersized Center Day’Ron Sharpe in just a shade under 20 minutes. PF Dorian Finney Smith struggled offensively as he was manhandled by Cavs PF Evan Mobley and had to come out after 17 minutes.. Not to return.  

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Our prediction for Thursday, March 23rd is….  Cavs 117 - Nets 109

 Bet on the Cavs… The Nets have the disadvantage against teams that have played together at a high level all season.  The Nets are still gelling the new players to the leftovers of the old team… It leads to awkward transitions and second guessing of line-ups. These Nets are OKk but we clearly have a couple more big offseason trades on the horizon as they try to figure out what to do with Joe Harris, Seth Curry, Royce O'neale… heck maybe even they find a dummy out there willing to give Ben Simmons a new home (not likely, but who knows?)

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Cavaliers: PG Darius Garland.  Before the arrival of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland was the Cavs young star in waiting.  He is a solid point guard and now must grow into a Robin instead of Batman… The problem with that is that the Robin position is a little harder to properly play. Any team’s second best player must figure out when to attack and when to support seamlessly.  It’s hard.  Donovan just attacks… Jarrett Allen just supports.. Garland must learn to do both simultaneously.  

Nets:  SG Mikal Bridges.  Mikal is capable of being this team’s leading scorer and also it’s best defender.  The Nets must proceed with extreme caution… They need to get Mikal back to his natural position of SF… but in order to do that they will have Cameron Johsnon and Dorian Finney-Smith BOTH playing out of position.  Since 2-guys are bound to be out of their best spot… If this trio stays together?.. The right course of action is to get the BEST player back to his BEST position.

Cavs: JB Bickerstaff

Nets: Jacque Vaughn