Since his knee has fully healed, Kyrie Irving has played seven games for the Cavs with Cleveland losing just one of those games. Irving, James and the gang will travel to Minnesota on Friday to keep things going against a struggling Timberwolves’ team.
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ODDS ANALYSIS
Straight up, these two teams couldn’t be more different in terms of records. The Cavaliers are 24-9 having won five straight games while the Timberwolves are 12-24, having dropped eight of their last nine.
While the Cavs are the far superior team and have the advantage in nearly every measureable statistical category, they’ve been only a marginally better bet this year. Both teams have 14 ATS victories. On the road, Cleveland is 6-10-1 ATS while the Timberwolves have really struggled to cover at home, going 3-15-1 ATS.
WHEN THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS ARE ON OFFENSE
The Cavs have been peaking offensively over their last two games, scoring 122 against Toronto and then putting up 121 more against Washington.
In those two games, Irving returned to form with 57 combined points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds.
Irving solidifies an already strong backcourt. Against Washington on Wednesday, J.R. Smith joined in on the scoring with 25 points. Of course, from the forward position, LeBron James led the team in scoring with 34 points. He’s averaging 25.8 PPG as he remains one of the games’ elite talents.
Cleveland can typically count on James for his consistently strong performances, but the players to keep an eye on—in addition to Irving—are Smith, Kevin Love and Tristian Thompson.
Thompson is averaging 7.5 PPG, but has scored 36 in his last three games. Keep an eye on Thompson with him and Irving important pieces to watch for those looking to back the Cavs or cash in on the over.
WHEN THE MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES ARE ON OFFENSE
The Timberwolves are a below average offensive team, ranking No. 21 in total PPG with 98.9. Minnesota does shoot well from the charity stripe so Cleveland will try to keep them off the line.
Andrew Wiggins leads the Timberwolves in scoring with 20.1 PPG, but the second year player out of Kansas will have his work cut out for him as he tries to lead his team against a Cleveland squad ranked No. 3 on defense, allowing 95.3 PPG.
Most recently, Minnesota scored just 74 against Denver in a loss and Wiggins scored only 11 with Karl-Anthony Towns the only other starter to reach double-digits. The center scored 14 and notched 14 rebounds in the effort.
Keep tabs on the rookie center early. He’s one of the team’s top performers and an instrumental part of their success inside, but he’s also scored just 30 points over his last three games while scoring 22 or more in five of his previous seven before that.
If Wiggins continues to struggle to find the basket, that heaps more pressure on Wiggins, even if Towns continues to provide the rebounds. Still, his last game was a nice sign of a start to a bounce back.
Still, even though Towns performed well on Wednesday, he failed to lead the team to victory as Wiggins failed to score at least a dozen points for the fourth time all year.
If Wiggins is clicking and Towns is back to form early in this game, don’t be afraid to back the underdogs to cover at home. That said, if either player shows difficulty overcoming a tough Cleveland defense, fade the Timberwolves.
BETTING TRENDS AND MATCHUPS
Cleveland’s offense is hot, but the under is 7-1 in the Cavs’ last eight road games and 7-2 in their last nine overall.
The reason for the recent under success is the Cavaliers’ strong defense. Keep a close eye on the matchup early to see if Wiggins, Towns and company can contend with Cleveland’s defense and put consistent points on the board.
If they can, don’t be afraid to take the over—even if Cleveland is staggering early. LeBron, Irving and Love won’t have an issue scoring on Minnesota. The over should depend on just how competitive the Timberwolves can keep this game.
The Cleveland defense has faltered in the last two games where the offense has carried the load. The Cavs have given up 215 points in those two games and the over paid out in both, snapping a sizeable streak for under backers.
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Don’t miss out on getting paid because you couldn’t bet, click here and deposit at BookMaker now! The game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves will take place Friday, January 8, 2016, at 8 p.m. ET at the Target Center. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
