Cleveland Cavaliers at New York Knicks 2/28/19 NBA Pick
In what could be seen as a pointless game on a Thursday night the Cavaliers are going to be facing the Knicks. However, for these two teams the game is not so much pointless as jockeying for if they will get a lottery pick or not. The Cavaliers have barely been playing good on the year, but prior to their recent loss to the Trail Blazers the team did pick up 2 wins. The Knicks for their part have actually looked impressive as they have won the last 2 games they have taken to the court in.
Cleveland Cavaliers Preview
The last game the Cavaliers played was a loss, but it was a loss that really started in the early part of the game as the Cavs let the Trail Blazers get out early and the Cavaliers could not make up the difference as the final score was 123-110. In the loss the Cavaliers were led in the scoring by Cedi Osman who put in a total of 27 points. The next leading scorer was Jordan Clarkson who put in a total of 19 points from the bench. Kevin Love was able to pull down 3 offensive boards and 9 defensive boards to lead the Cavaliers in rebounding.
On the season Jordan Clarkson has been the go to for scoring as he has 17 points a game on the year out of the 103 points a game the Cavaliers average. The defense for the Cavaliers has not really reached expectations either by giving up 113 points a game. The team does horrible at passing with only 21 assist a game, but rebounding is not much better as they are getting only 43 boards a game.
New York Knicks Preview
The Knicks are actually heading into this game after getting 2 back to back wins. The first of these wins was a little bit of a shocker as the Knicks were able to beat the Spurs by 12 points. The other shocker was the fact the Knicks were able to beat the Magic on the next game by 5 points. In the win over the Magic the Knicks were led in the scoring by Emmanuel Mudiay who put in a total of 19 points for the Knicks and he came off of the bench to do that. The second and third leading scorer for the Knicks in the game also came from the bench to put in 18 and 17 points each. None of the Knicks starters in the win finished in double figures. Mitchell Robinson was a machine on the offensive glass with 8 offensive boards, but followed it up with 6 defensive boards to finish up his double-double from the bench.
On the season the leading scorer the Knicks had relied on was traded away. However, the Knicks have been averaging only 105.7 points a game on the year so far. The defense for the Knicks has been playing poorly by giving up 113.9 points a game. When it comes to passing the Knicks are downright horrible with only 19.9 assist a game, but have ended up getting 44.6 rebounds a game.
Cavaliers at Knicks Line: New York Knicks -3 O/U 216.5
My Free NBA Pick: Cleveland Cavaliers +3
Okay, well this is a game between a couple of losing teams whose seasons are lost. Cleveland did take the last meeting between these two teams by a 3 point win, but it was in Cleveland. Now, the Knicks are on their home court and as expected the Knicks offense scores a whole point better at home. The Cavaliers road offense, though, drops off in production by almost 2 whole points and if it is possible the defense actually looks even worse. The Cavaliers also only have 5 road wins on the season, compared to the Knicks 6 home wins. Even in the losses the Knicks were the better shooting team, but was outrebounded and that may still be the case as Love is a machine. I think the Knicks starting lineup will struggle again and be contained, but the bench will not be as in depth to bail the starters out in this game. Look for the Cavaliers to take this game on the road in what some may consider a surprising upset. Cleveland Cavaliers win 105-103.
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