Who’s Playing
Cleveland Cavaliers @ Denver Nuggets
Current Records: Cleveland 26-4, Denver 16-12
How To Watch
- When: Friday, December 27, 2024 at 9 p.m. ET
- Where: Ball Arena — Denver, Colorado
- TV: Altitude Sports & Entertainmnt
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online streaming: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket Cost: $52.00
What to Know
The Nuggets will be in front of their home fans on Friday, but a look at the spread shows they might need that home-court advantage. They will welcome the Cleveland Cavaliers at 9:00 p.m. ET at Ball Arena. The Nuggets are strutting in with some offensive muscle as they’ve averaged 119.1 points per game this season.
The Nuggets are headed into this one after the oddsmakers set last week’s over/under low at 231.5, but even that wound up being too high. They fell 110-100 to the Suns on Wednesday. Denver didn’t live up to their potential and found themselves falling short of the advantage oddsmakers thought they had coming into the game.
The Nuggets’ loss came about despite a quality game from Nikola Jokic, who dropped a double-double on 25 points and 15 rebounds. The match was Jokic’s fourth in a row with at least 30 points.
Even though they lost, the Nuggets smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they’ve now pulled down at least 11 offensive rebounds in three consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers entered their tilt with the Jazz on Monday with four consecutive wins but they’ll enter their next game with five. They walked away with a 124-113 victory over Utah.
The Cavaliers’ win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Darius Garland, who went 8 for 14 en route to 23 points plus eight assists. The team also got some help courtesy of Donovan Mitchell, who scored 22 points along with seven assists and three steals.
Denver’s defeat dropped their record down to 16-12. As for Cleveland, they pushed their record up to 26-4 with the victory, which was their seventh straight at home.
Friday’s contest is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: The Nuggets just can’t miss this season, having nailed 49.6% of their field goals per game (they’re ranked third in field goal percentage overall). However, it’s not like the Cavaliers (currently ranked first) struggle in that department as they’ve drained 50.4% of theirs this season. Given these competing strengths, it’ll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
The Nuggets came up short against the Cavaliers in their previous meeting on December 5th, falling 126-114. Will the Nuggets have more luck at home instead of on the road?
Odds
Cleveland is a slight 2.5-point favorite against Denver, according to the latest NBA odds.
The line has drifted a bit towards the Cavaliers, as the game opened with the Cavaliers as a 1-point favorite.
The over/under is 236.5 points.
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Series History
Denver and Cleveland both have 5 wins in their last 10 games.
- Dec 05, 2024 – Cleveland 126 vs. Denver 114
- Mar 31, 2024 – Denver 130 vs. Cleveland 101
- Nov 19, 2023 – Cleveland 121 vs. Denver 109
- Feb 23, 2023 – Denver 115 vs. Cleveland 109
- Jan 06, 2023 – Denver 121 vs. Cleveland 108
- Mar 18, 2022 – Cleveland 119 vs. Denver 116
- Oct 25, 2021 – Cleveland 99 vs. Denver 87
- Feb 19, 2021 – Denver 120 vs. Cleveland 103
- Feb 10, 2021 – Denver 133 vs. Cleveland 95
- Mar 07, 2020 – Cleveland 104 vs. Denver 102
