The Oklahoma City Thunder (23-25, 14-10 home) welcome the Cleveland Cavaliers (30-20, 10-15 away) in an inter-conference contest between a pair of playoff hopefuls. Cleveland won the first meeting between the two teams back in December, 110-102.
Friday’s tip-off is at 8 p.m. EST inside the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Cleveland is a one-point road favorite, and the over/under total opened at 222.5 points.
What to Know – Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland hits the floor with its third road game in four days after games in New York and Houston. The Cavaliers split the matchups, falling to the Knicks, 105-103, before knocking off the Rockets on Thursday, 113-95. Cleveland sits in fifth place in the Eastern Conference Standings.
On offense, Cleveland averages 111.5 points per game while shooting 48.3% from the field and 36.4% from the 3-point line. The Cavs defense surrenders a league-best 107.0 ppg to opposing teams, holding opponents to 46.7% shooting from the floor and 37.1% from beyond the arc.
Donovan Mitchell leads the Cavs in scoring, averaging 28.3 ppg behind a 48.1% shooting from the floor. Darius Garland is second on the team, adding 21.8 ppg, and is coming off a team-high 26-point effort in Wednesday’s victory over Houston. Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, and Caris LeVert round out the main five scorers for the Cleveland offense.
The Cavaliers are 25-22-3 against the spread this season with a 10-14-1 record ATS on the road. Cleveland is 0-5 ATS in its previous five matchups played on Friday.
What to Know – Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder head into the weekend after a 137-132 defeat against the Atlanta Hawks at home on Wednesday night. Oklahoma City has dropped two of its last three matchups and fallen outside of the playoff picture in the Western Conference by a half-game.
Oklahoma City’s offense pours in 116.9 ppg thanks to a 46.7% shooting effort from the field and 33.7% mark from deep. Defensively, the Thunder limit opponents to 116.0 ppg, 46.5% shooting from the floor, and 35.4% from three.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is not only the Thunder’s leading scorer but one of the top scorers in the NBA, averaging 30.8 ppg this year. Josh Giddey is putting up career-highs, scoring 16.0 ppg and shooting 48.4% from the field. Luguentz Dort (14.1 ppg) and Jalen Williams (11.8 ppg) give the Thunder four players that can load up the offensive stat sheet on a given night.
OKC is 31-17 ATS this year and 15-9 ATS on their home floor. The Thunder sport a 4-1 ATS over their previous five contests in Oklahoma City.
The Pick is In
The Cavaliers are playing their third game in four days, so expect some of the main contributors for Cleveland to see limited action. Oklahoma City has been fantastic against the spread all season, and we like the Thunder to pull out the victory at home and beat the bookies in this one.
The Pick: Oklahoma City Thunder ML
