Cavaliers vs. Suns Odds, Pick, Prediction: Back Cleveland to Beat Phoenix

Cavaliers vs. Suns Odds

The Cavaliers travel to Phoenix to rematch the Suns after defeating them by two points back in Cleveland on Wednesday. The Suns have lost five of their last six since losing Devin Booker to injury, so they should be come out with some urgency here at home. Will that urgency be enough to carry them to a win against a shorthanded Cavs team? Find a betting pick and prediction for Cavaliers vs. Suns below.

Can the Cavaliers Defense Step Up Again?

The Cavs are coming off a loss to the Nuggets, but they were without Donovan Mitchell for that game. The line is currently sitting around -4.5 at most spots, which tells me that Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell are probably playing.

We should expect Mitchell to play despite his questionable designation because he was rested on Friday against the Nuggets. Mitchell had a 38.9% Usage Rate in the first Suns game but shot horribly, making just six of his 20 attempts. I would expect Mitchell to bounce back in this spot, especially considering he has had three full days of rest in preparation for this one.

The Cavs defense did an excellent job against this Suns team on Wednesday as they allowed just 88 points across 94 possessions. The Cavs' process was excellent as they forced the Suns to take 40% of their shots from the midrange.

Phoenix doesn’t have the mid-range shooters to punish teams with Booker out of the lineup, and it showed as the Suns shot just 35.3% on their midrange looks. With Evan Mobley and Jarrrett Allen both healthy, I expect the Cavs to continue to do a great job of limiting paint/rim looks and forcing the Suns into tough twos.

Suns Searching for Answers Without Booker

The Suns are sputtering as they are now losers of five straight games. They are 1-4 ATS during this stretch and have failed to score 100 points in three consecutive games. In their most recent game against the Cavs, they finished the game with a 93.6 Offensive Rating (fourth percentile).

Back at home on Friday night, they only scored 96 points for a 101 Offensive Rating (13^th percentile) against the Heat. This offense is completely inept, and I don’t see them improving drastically against this second-ranked Cavs defense. As I mentioned above, this Cavs defense already proved that it can force this Suns team into tough looks, and I expect that to continue here in this spot.

Keep in mind that the Suns will be down Cameron Payne, their second-leading player by Assist Rate, for this second matchup with the Cavs. Payne is quietly a huge loss for their playmaking ability and this should significantly hinder their ability to score points efficiently.

Cavaliers-Suns Pick

The injuries are piling up for the Suns, and it is hard for me to envision their path to victory against this Cavs team. The Cavs have showed that they can win games with their defense, but they should have a little extra offensive punch with Mitchell and potentially Garland both in the lineup. Expect the Cavs to come out with some energy off of a loss and back them at -4.5 and up to -6.

Pick: Cavs -4.5

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