NBA Wednesday April 3rd Cavs at Suns Betting Pick
Cleveland Playing on the Back to Back
The April 3rd Cavs at Suns betting matchup is a good test of what Cleveland has left in the tank after playing their third road game in the last four nights – one of which was in the high altitude of Denver in Sunday’s 130-101 blowout loss to the Nuggets. The Cavaliers (46-30) are a solid 22-16 on the road this season, but there are some extenuating circumstances at play on Wednesday night (10:00 PM ET, ESPN).
The Suns (43-31) are back home after a 3-2 road trip and while playing 9 of their last 11 away from the Footprint Center. Phoenix has a definite fatigue advantage here and have gone 22-14 on their own court this season making it not a surprise that they are -5.5 favorites in this spot.
Why Cleveland Has Value at +5.5
Surprisingly a slight 52% of the betting public likes the Cavaliers here despite being on the back to back. One advantage that Cleveland does have here is that their two games the last three nights have included a 29 point loss and a 16 point win so J.B. Bickerstaff has been able to be a bit more flexible with his minutes usage.
The Cavs did have a nice bounce back after the annihilation at the hands of the Nuggets, topping Utah 129-116 on Tuesday night. Sam Merrill came off the bench to hit 6-12 from three point range while Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen, and Evan Mobley all dropped 21+ points.
Cleveland played without Donovan Mitchell (26.8 ppg) in Utah because of a knee injury but he’s expected to return on the second leg of the back to back. That could be huge in a potential shootout with Devin Booker, who just went for 52 vs. the Pelicans on Monday.
Why Phoenix Has Value at -5.5
Can the Suns blow the doors off of a possibly fatigued Cleveland team on Wednesday night? The Cavs have played two games in the last three nights, while Phoenix has only played one in the last four days so the Suns can really push the tempo here if they so choose to do.
Booker had been struggling a bit with 17 points vs. the Nuggets and only 14 at the Thunder but he looks back on track after hitting 19-28 shots vs. New Orleans. It was a nice start to the month for Booker (27.4 ppg) after he averaged 24.1 ppg in March. Kevin Durant also averages 28.5 ppg at home, slightly better than his 26.6 average on the road.
The Suns have alternated wins and losses the last five games leaving them in line for a loss on Wednesday, but the good news is Cleveland has that same trend going the last six games and they’re up for a defeat. The Cavs are six games above .500 on the road this season, but they’ve also dropped four of their last five away from Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Free April 3rd Cavs at Suns Betting Pick
Cleveland is on the back to back and a three-games-in-four-nights situation but their previous two contests have been double digit decisions not requiring a ton of minutes – and Mitchell returns for the Cavs. All that being said, Cleveland has lost four of their last five road tilts which is going to be trouble against a fairly fresh Suns squad.
Free Pick: Suns -5.5
