Cleveland Looks to Extend Winning Streak to Six
Two NBA Eastern Conference teams meet on Wednesday night when the Cleveland Cavaliers host the New York Knicks.
New York on the season is 14-15 straight up and 17-12 against the spread. Cleveland on the season is 18-7 SU and 11-14 ATS. On the road, the Knicks are 7-7 SU and 10-4 ATS, the Cavaliers at home are 12-1 SU and 6-7 ATS.
Kyrie Irving debuted this season for Cleveland over the weekend and will play a limited number of minutes against the Knicks on Wednesday after fracturing a knee cap in last season’s playoffs.
Irving started Sunday versus Philadelphia and scored 12 points with 4 assists.
New York’s winning streak of four games was snapped on Monday in a loss at home 107-99 to Orlando. Kristaps Porzingis did not shoot well in the game for New York hitting just 3 of his 12 shots and has shot just 28% from the field over the past five contests.
Lance Thomas has played more for the Knicks since Porzingis has struggled with this shooting. Thomas was 9 for 9 coming off the bench, including 3 for 3 from three-point land.
Cleveland has waited since the beginning of the season to have its full backcourt in place. Two of its three are back from injury but Mo Williams is currently out.
LeBron James the star of the Cavaliers said Irving returning would help the team and help his own game as there will be one more player for the opposition to worry about.
However, James does not seem to have needed much help from anyone as he is averaging 27.6 points per game and shooting 54.4% from the field during the teams current winning streaking of five games.
Cleveland beat New York twice during November. The Cavaliers defense held the Knicks to an average of just 85 points in the two games.
Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony hurt his ankle in Monday’s game and is currently day to day on the New York injury report.
Williams has missed the past two games for Cleveland with a finger injury but has been listed as probable for Wednesday’s game.
The UNDER has cashed in each of the past five games between the two teams.
New York is 5-1 against the number in its past 6 games played at Cleveland.
New York is 4-1 against the number in its past 5 games overall against Cleveland.
The underdog has covered the number in 6 of the past 7 games overall between the two teams.
Prediction: Cleveland has too much firepower, especially if Anthony is not able to play for the Knicks. Cleveland wins this game easily.
