Free NBA Pick: Nuggets vs. Cavaliers NBA Odds
Looking for Denver Nuggets vs. Cleveland Cavaliers free NBA picks & NBA Odds? NBA betting sees the Nuggets taking on the Cavaliers on Friday, March 18th at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, Ohio. Cappers Picks provides complimentary expert handicapping picks on all NBA basketball matchups so stay tuned for more FREE daily NBA hoops predictions like this Nuggets Cavaliers matchup.
2022 NBA Handicapping
(42-28) Denver Nuggets vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (39-30)
Date: Friday, March 18th
Time: 7:30 PM (ET)
Venue: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio
NBA Moneyline Odds: Nuggets -138 | Cavaliers +131 (Bet Now!)
NBA Betting Odds: Nuggets -2.5
NBA Betting Total: 220.5
Friday, March 18th the Denver Nuggets face the Cleveland Cavaliers for the second and final time this season. Cleveland won the initial October 25th match 99-87.
Both teams last played Wednesday with the Nuggets pummeling the Wizards 127-109 while the Cavaliers lost a heartbreaker 114-118 versus the 76ers after battling back in the match and by virtue of the loss are now tied with the Raptors in sixth.
All-time the Nuggets have the advantage of winning 51 of 95 matches versus the Cavaliers. Last season the teams played twice with the Nuggets winning both contests.
Denver Nuggets
While most of the season the reigning MVP seemed to be the forgotten star in this season’s race he’s made major strides in recent weeks. First, his stats became so impressive analysts and media sites couldn’t ignore him any longer.
The difference of having him on the court versus when he sat is stark. While Joel Embiid had to carry the 76ers he still had Tobias Harris, Tyrese Maxey, Seth Curry, and Andre Drummond to work with – and post-trade now has James Harden.
But what really shook up the ranking order was Jokic going into Philly and beating the 76ers who continue to spiral since losing embarrassingly so against the Nets last week.
Embiid may have the better scoring production but Jokic affects every aspect of the play on the floor and impacts winning which is what they did in Philly and now he has overtaken Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo as the player most likely to win MVP.
As the Nuggets finish their stretch run they are in a dog fight for seeding. Denver has a 1.5 edge over the Wolves and trails the Mavericks and the Jazz by the same margin which means they could finish the season in fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh.
The way the Mavericks are playing they seem like the most likely to move up but if Jokic leads the Nuggets to a higher seed he’ll likely also cement winning back-to-back MVPs.
Zeke Nnaji (ankle) is questionable for Friday. Vlatko Cancar (foot), Jamal Murray (knee), and Michael Porter Jr. (back) are out indefinitely.
Cleveland Cavaliers
On the good news front, the Cavaliers were lucky every time they played Toronto this season the Raptors were missing core contributors because it allowed them to win all three contests.
The March 6th victory put 3.5 games between them and Toronto who was continuing their road trip with five more games out West against elite competition.
That was also the night Jarrett Allen fractured his finger. Since that game, the Cavs have gone 2-3 beating the Pacers and again got lucky when the Clippers rested their top two offensive players Reggie Jackson and Marcus Morris (both played against Toronto) although they still needed overtime to capture that win.
Their three losses were against the Heat, Bulls, and 76ers.
In contrast, the Raptors went 5-0 beating the Spurs, Suns/Nuggets in a brutal back-to-back and both LA teams. The resulting effect is Cleveland and Toronto are deadlocked with identical 39-30 records and could swap positions by night’s end with Cleveland facing the Nuggets while Toronto hosts the reeling Lakers.
Dean Wade (knee) and Rajon Rondo (toe) were downgraded to out on Friday. Jarrett Allen (finger) is out indefinitely. Collin Sexton (knee) is out for the season.
NBA Betting Trends:
- Denver is 2-4 ATS in their last 6 games.
- Cleveland is 4-9 SU in their last 13 games.
- Denver is 7-0 SU in their last 7 games on the road.
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Cleveland’s last 5 games.
- Nuggets are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games as a favorite.
- Cavaliers are 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 games as a home underdog.
Free Denver Nuggets vs. Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Prediction
This is essentially a must-win for both clubs although I’d argue the Cavaliers need the victory more given the seeding implications. Cleveland has really struggled since losing Allen and may have hit a wall from having to sustain the overachieving success they began the season with.
Similarly, Denver desires the win to keep the Wolves at bay and close the gap on Utah and Dallas although it’s not as desperate of a situation.
Last weekend rookie Scottie Barnes provided arguably the best defense we’ve witnessed this season on Jokic holding him scoreless in the final quarter. Evan Mobley will draw that assignment in this match and while I’m high on Mobley I don’t have faith he can achieve the same success as Barnes on Jokic.
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