All is not well in King James’ second reign in Cleveland. His Cavaliers have stumbled out of the gate to begin the season, with the Big Three’s struggles front and center as they try to work out some of the growing pains that come with a brand new team.
The Cavs will travel to the Mile-High City for their next assignment against the Denver Nuggets, who are no strangers to early-season struggles and will be out to end their own losing skid.
Two of the Cavs’ potential adversaries in the East are set to meet up north as the Raptors take on the Wizards in Toronto. You can find our complete preview of that game right here shortly after reading up on this matchup between these two underperforming teams.
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Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Denver Nuggets Betting Preview
Where: Pepsi Center, Denver
When: Friday, November 7, 10:30 PM ET
Line: Cleveland Cavaliers at Denver Nuggets – view all NBA lines
Betting on the Cleveland Cavaliers
Things haven’t gone exactly as planned for LeBron James to start off his homecoming. With their narrow 102-100 road loss to the Utah Jazz on Wednesday, the star-studded Cavs have now dropped three of their first four games, both straight up and against the spread.
[sc:NBA240banner ]The Big Three of James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love have been averaging 64 of the team’s 96.5 points per game, but none of the three have been particularly efficient within head coach David Blatt’s new offense just yet. James and Irving are both shooting just a shade over 40 percent, while Love is shooting a disappointing 36 percent from the field.
Cleveland’s stars will get a chance to get back on track offensively against a Denver Nuggets team that has given up 102, 110 and 131 points in its last three games.
The Cavs have had their own problems keeping the opposition below 100 points, in part due to poor interior defense. Robin Lopez, who’s not known for his offensive prowess, scored 19 points on Anderson Varejao and Kevin Love in a 101-82 loss to the Blazers, while the Jazz’s twin towers of Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter bullied their way to 39 points on a sizzling 65 percent from the field.
Luckily for the Cavs, they won’t have to contend with any legitimate low post threats (or even consistent offensive threats) against the Nuggets, who are struggling to find their flow on offense.
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Betting on the Denver Nuggets
After opening their season off with a win, the Denver Nuggets have now dropped three games in a row, including the last two against the Sacramento Kings. The Nuggets fell by six at home on Monday, but were completely blitzed back at Sacramento. They gave up 40 points in the first quarter to set the tone for a 131-109 drubbing.
A big part of the Nuggets’ slow start has been the non-existent production from their two best and highest-paid players, Ty Lawson and Kenneth Faried. Excluding his big 25-point effort against the shorthanded Thunder, Lawson has scored just 25 points in his three other games combined.
Meanwhile, Faried has fallen off even farther after a promising 22-point effort on opening night. Faried has scored just 21 total points in the three games since, including his putrid four-point, five-rebound performance against the Kings on Wednesday.
The Nuggets also haven’t been getting any production from Danilo Gallinari, who’s started off very slowly following his return from two serious knee injuries, while head coach Brian Shaw has yet to find a consistent rotation for his very deep roster.
Lawson and Faried are definitely better players than their early-season numbers indicate, and both will be eager to break their offensive slump with two subpar defenders in Love and Irving matched up against them.
On the other end, the Nuggets’ impressive wing depth with Wilson Chandler, Arron Afflalo and Alonzo Gee should allow them to throw some different looks against James defensively and possibly throw the already out of sync four-time MVP into more confusion.
Writer’s Prediction
James and Love rediscover their strokes as the Cavs win and cover on the road against the Nuggets.
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