Charlotte Hornets at Cleveland Cavaliers: Spread & Over/Under Predictions

Picks for tonight's game between Charlotte and Cleveland.

Ian Black | Nov 17, 2024

Mar 27, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Caris LeVert (3) works the ball inside against Charlotte Hornets forward Grant Williams (2) during the first quarter at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

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Charlotte Hornets

The Charlotte Hornets (5-7) hit the road on Sunday to visit the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers (14-0). A win today for Cleveland would tie the Cavaliers for the second-best start to a season in NBA history at 15 wins, behind only the 2015-16 Warriors who started 24-0 before finishing the season 73-9.

Charlotte will be looking to play spoiler coming off the heels of a 115-114 win yesterday against the Milwaukee Bucks. Currently sitting as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, a win against such a talented team could show that this Hornets team’s playoff intentions are no fluke this season.

Here are my picks for tonight's game. Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.

Star ratings:

1 Star - Not very confident

2 Star - A little confident

3 Star - Fairly confident

4 Star - Very confident

5 Star - Should be a lock to happen

Spread: Cavaliers -10.5

2-star play on the Cavaliers (-10.5): Charlotte comes into this game on the second night of a back-to-back catching a slight break as Donovan Mitchell (rest) will be out for today’s game.

The slightly more rested Cavaliers are still a dangerous team though behind the power of a deep roster. Thrusted into starting action due to injuries, surging Hornets center Moussa Diabaté will especially have his hands full with opposing big man Jarrett Allen who is one of the more menacing paint defenders in the league.

The Cavs are a more grounded team coming into this matchup, generally playing an extremely consistent and successful brand of basketball on both ends of the court. How Charlotte handles this game could be a barometer for what to expect for the rest of the season.

Over/Under: 224

3-star play on the over: The implied total for the Cavaliers is only 117 points, a mark they have exceeded in 8/14 games this season and have been within one basket of another three times.

This Charlotte team simply doesn’t have the defensive identity to expect Cleveland to deviate from this level of consistency. Take the over, but be weary of missing bodies and low rest adding some variance to the mix.

My picks this season:

ATS: 5-3 (62.5%)

O/U: 3-5 (37.5%)

Overall: 8-8 (50.0%)

Odds Disclaimer

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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Star ratings:

Spread: Cavaliers -10.5

Over/Under: 224

My picks this season:

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