What’s wrong in Cleveland? The Cleveland Cavaliers are still the class of the Eastern Conference, but the reigning NBA champs haven’t been playing their best basketball over the last couple weeks and are just 5-6 since the calendar flipped to 2017. The Oklahoma City Thunder will try to be yet another team that takes advantage of this rough patch in their trip to Cleveland on Sunday afternoon.
Don't miss the hardwood action from the Quicken Loans Arena at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, January 29, 2017. Catch every moment of the game live on ABC.
We'll have NBA odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NBA Sunday schedule.
Odds Analysis
Heading into Wednesday, the Cavaliers have covered the spread just twice in their last 11 games and three times in their last 14.
While the ATS struggles started with simply tighter than expected victories straight up, they’ve since morphed into SU losses as well. The Cavs have now dropped back-to-back games and five of their last seven contests.
Most of the recent struggles have come on the road where Cleveland has played seven of their last nine games so a return home could be just what the doctor ordered.
The Thunder will represent the third straight home game for the Cavs who are 11-10-2 ATS at home and Oklahoma City is just 11-13 ATS on the road. They’ve also dropped thre of their last five road games both SU and ATS.
Cleveland will be the Thunders’ eighth different city in their last eight games.
Player to Watch
The Cavs struggles have been on both sides of the ball. The defense has been ice cold with the opposition scoring 118 and 124 points in their last two games, but the offense has slipped, too, thanks in part to a cold spell on three-pointers. In addition, while LeBron James continues to be rather consistent, both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love have struggled shooting the ball.
It looks like the two have started to turn the tide. After sinking just a third of his shots over the previous 10 games, Love went 7-for-15 on Monday for 22 points and added 16 rebounds for his second straight double-double. He’s been dealing with some back issues so his health is a bit of a question.
Still, the bigger—in terms of role, not size—player to watch is Irving. The guard needs to own the court on the outside and he did just that, shooting 15-for-28 from the field and 8-for-14 from three-point range against the Pelicans on Monday. That landed him 49-points and gives Cleveland plenty of optimism moving forward, despite another loss.
If Irving can keep things rolling, particularly behind the arc, that could open up the floor a bit and allow the Cavs to get back to their dominating style of basketball.
Key Stat
Over the last handful of games, the Cavaliers have been coming up short on the fast break with the opposition having the upper hand on that, particularly against Golden State.
The Warriors are one of the fastest paced teams in the league with a pace factor of 104.1, but the Thunder are sitting at 100.1 compared to Cleveland a tick behind at 99.2. The difference is minimal, but Oklahoma City is, on average, seeing one more possession than Cleveland and, given their struggles, could be a challenge on the fast break for the Cavs.
A big part of the equation for the Thunder is, obviously, Russell Westbrook. The ability of he and Victor Oladipo to run the ball up the court.
Free NBA ATS Picks
It’s Westbrook, and to a lesser extent Oladipo, against James, Love and Irving. The advantage clearly goes to the home team.
The Cavaliers should control the paint as the Thunder really lake much productivity inside with Steven Adams and Enes Kanter each providing some size, but the two centers are only able to do so much.
Of course, Westbrook shows up all over the court and works his magic. He’ll likely have yet another triple-double because that’s what he does, but it’s not likely to be enough. Westbrook alone can carry a team to plenty of wins, but not so much against elite teams with elite talent. Oklahoma City recently lost to both Golden State and the Clippers on the road. With Irving and Love coming around after shooting struggles, this looks to be the case for yet another loss for the Thunder.
NBA Odds: Cavaliers 108, Thunder 105
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