Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Prediction, NBA Odds
One of the most intriguing matchups on the slate features the Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers in a battle between the defending NBA champions and a team that is trying to climb that mountaintop and live up to its preseason expectations.
With tip-off set at 2:30 PM ET, let’s get into the NBA odds and betting trends, plus my predictions for this special afternoon edition of marquee NBA action on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Thunder vs. Cavaliers NBA Betting Odds
These teams have each gone through their ebbs and flows this season, but the Thunder certainly look like the better side heading into this game. After all, Oklahoma City has shown itself to be not only the best team in the NBA, but a team that is more than capable of repeating as champions for the first time since the Golden State Warriors in 2018.
Oklahoma City carries a 35-8 record heading into this one, and the market is certainly respecting the Thunder, even away from home. The odds point to OKC in this game, as the Thunder are 6.5-point road favourites, along with a posted total of 234.5.
So far, the Thunder are just 21-22 against the number this season, as the market has been fairly accurate with how Oklahoma City has played to this point. On the other side, the Cavaliers are a league-worst 15-28 against the spread, having drastically underperformed compared to expectations.
Oklahoma City Thunder
While the defending champions have battled through some periods of inconsistent play lately and key injuries, this is still the best team in basketball. After winning 20 of their first 21 games to start the campaign, the Thunder have “struggled” of late, only going 15-7 over their last 22 games.
While Oklahoma City will be without Jalen Williams for this game due to injury, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and company should still be in a position to succeed on Monday thanks to their excellent defence and competitive edge, which is part of what gives this team a very high floor each time they take the court. As long as the Thunder don’t completely implode on offence, their floor is high enough that they should win this game on the road against a depleted Cavaliers team.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Things have been looking up for the Cavaliers in recent weeks, as Cleveland enters this game having won seven of its last 10 contests. However, Kenny Atkinson’s team can’t seem to catch a break on the injury front, with Darius Garland, Sam Merrill, and Max Strus all set to miss this game with various ailments. That doesn’t bode well for an offence that is going to need to make a ton of threes to overcome the loss of Garland as a scorer and playmaker.
On the other side of the ball, the Cavaliers are playing better defence in transition, and Cleveland’s best chance in this game is to try and muck things up and keep Oklahoma City from getting easy buckets. Even if they’re able to slow down the Thunder, it’s hard to have faith in the Cleveland offence when it’s missing many key pieces on the perimeter.
NBA Prediction: Who Will Win Thunder vs. Cavaliers?
Even though the Cavaliers are starting to look like the team we thought they would be before the season, it’s hard to see this team compete with the best defence in basketball without the services of Garland, along with a host of other role players that really boost this offence.
As long as the Thunder put forth a focused and consistent effort in this one, Oklahoma City should win and cover this number. The Thunder take this one 120-110.
OKC
CLE