The Cleveland Cavaliers hit the road as they travel to the Bankers Life Fieldhouse to take on the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday 12/18/18.
The Cavs have lost 9 out of their last dozen games and now have fallen near the bottom of the Eastern Conference with their 7-23 record. The Cavs are just one half game ahead of Eastern Conference cellar dwellers Chicago and Atlanta and with the injuries that continue to bother them, it’s not hard to think that Cleveland is going to hit rock bottom too.
Jordan Clarkson is the high point man for Cleveland. Clarkson is averaging 16.7 points per game to lead a depleted Cleveland team that has played without All-Star forward Kevin Love for the last 26 games. Love is still out after undergoing toe surgery and may not be back until late this month or early next month. Rookie Collin Sexton is scoring 15.3 points while dishing off 2.5 assists per game.
The Cavaliers average 103.4 points per game which is near the bottom in the team rankings at #27. Cleveland also averages only 19.9 assists per game, dead last among 30 NBA teams. Their 43.9 rebounds per game average is tied for 19th league-wide while their 111.8 points per game allowed is in the bottom 10 at #22.
The Pacers won their seventh straight game after defeating the New York Knicks last Sunday Victor Oladipo looked in his best form since returning from a knee injury that sidelined him for 11 games. He shot 7-13 from the floor including 5-8 from downtown to finish with 26 points. With Oladipo getting his groove back, the Pacers are more dangerous than ever.
Oladipo leads Indiana in scoring at 20.8 points per game. But when he was hurt, it was Bojan Bogdanovic who carried the flag for the Pacers. Bogdanovic is averaging 16.5 points per game on the season. Domantas Sabonis is averaging 14.0 points per game along with a team-best 9.9 rebounds per contest.
The Pacers rank 25th in the league in team scoring at 106.7 points per game. Indiana is 8th in passing at 25.3 assists per game. They are also tied for 19th in rebounding at 43.9 boards per contest. Indiana is the NBA’s top defensive team when it comes to points per game allowed as the Pacers limit their opponents to just 101.2 points per game.
The Cavs and Pacers have played in a total of 190 regular season games. The Pacers have the slight lead in their all-time series at 98-92. Indiana has won four out of their last five meetings including their most recent matchup 119-107 last October 27, 2018 at the Quicken Loans Arena.
Cleveland is 3-9 SU in their last dozen games played. The Cavs are 2-13 SU in their last 15 games played on the road. Indiana is 5-0 SU in their last five games played. The Pacers are 11-4 SU in 15 home games played this season. Head to head, the Pacers are 4-1 SU in their last five home games against the Cavaliers.
The Cavs don’t have Kevin Love yet. Now they’ve also lost Tristan Thompson who suffered an ankle sprain last Monday. With Thompson expected to be out for a month, the Cavs’ frontline has never been thinner. That’s going to be a problem against an Indiana frontline that has players like Sabonis, Myles Turner and Thaddeus Young.
Likewise, Victor Oladipo looks like he’s getting back in shape and that would only mean more bad news for the struggling Cavs. Cleveland is 2-11 on the road this season. It’s not going to get better against an Indiana team that’s won seven in a row and is 11-4 at home this season. We’re picking the Indiana Pacers to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers on 12/18/18.
Cleveland is 2-5 ATS in their last seven games played. The Cavs are 2-5 ATS in their last seven road games. On the other hand, the Pacers are 5-1 ATS in their last six games played. Indiana is also 7-1 ATS in their last seven games against Cleveland. The Pacers are 4-1 ATS in their last five games against the Cavs when playing in Indiana.
In their last five defeats, Cleveland lost by an average margin of 20.8 points per game. Meanwhile, the Pacers have won by an average winning margin of 10.71 points during their seven game winning streak. The spread looks daunting but knowing that Tristan Thompson is out of this game, this could go ugly for the Cavs. Prediction: Pacers -12.5
The total has gone over in five out of the last seven games played by Cleveland. The under is 8-3 in the Cavaliers’ last 11 road games played. The under is 20-10 in Indiana’s 30 games this season and also 12-3 in the Pacers’ 15 home games played this season. The total has gone under in Indiana’s last five games played. The total has also gone under in five out of the last six games between these teams played in Indiana.
During this current seven game winning run, the Pacers have held their opponents to 97.4 points per 100 possessions. Not only do they hold their opponents down, the Pacers themselves don’t score much as they are only 25th in the league in scoring. 207 is a low total really but given how the Pacers have played defense lately, no total is safe. Prediction: Under 207
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