The Cleveland Cavaliers’ season appears to be finally right back on track after they recorded their fourth consecutive victory Monday over the Milwaukee Bucks to go two games over .500 for just the second time this season. They will look to extend that streak even further this coming Thursday when they face the struggling New York Knicks who are moving in the opposite direction having lost all of their last five games.
Read on below for a preview of this showdown and while you’re at it, you can check out our preview of the game between New Orleans and Golden State here.
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Cleveland Cavaliers vs. New York Knicks Betting Preview
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York
When: Thursday, December 4, 2014, 8:00 PM ET
Line: Cleveland Cavaliers (-7.5) at New York Knicks (+7.5); total: 197.5 – view all NBA lines
Betting on the Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland’s Big Three flexed their offensive muscles once again as they survived a spirited fight back by a young Milwaukee side Tuesday night to eke out a 111-108 victory. Kyrie Irving top-scored for the Cavs with 28 points while Kevin Love and LeBron James added 27 and 26 points respectively to help Cleveland extend its winning streak to four games.
[sc:NBA240banner ]It has been a nice recovery for the Cavaliers who started the season with a disastrous 5-7 record. The Big Three, however, have steadied the ship for Cleveland, accounting for more than 62 percent of the Cavs’ total offensive output in their last four games.
So what changed for Cleveland these past few games? The Cavs appear to have a better understanding of their offense as evidenced by their much-improved ball movement. They have averaged 23.8 assists during this winning run, up from their season average of 21.8 dimes per game.
They have also limited their turnovers, averaging just 12.1 per game in their last four victories, down considerably from their 14.1 TPG mark this season. Protecting the basketball will be vital for the Cavs when they face the New York Knicks this coming Thursday. The last time these two teams faced each other back on opening night, the Cavs committed a total of 19 turnovers.
That was the game where LeBron James made his much-anticipated return to Cleveland. The occasion, however, affected the four-time MVP as he shot just 5-of-15 from the field and finished with just 17 points in the 95-90 defeat. He has rediscovered his form recently, though, averaging 25.8 points in their last four wins and will be on the look-out for a payback performance at the Madison Square Garden.
Things are going from bad to worse for head coach Derek Fisher and the rest of the New York Knicks after they stumbled to their fifth consecutive defeat Tuesday with a 98-93 loss to the Brooklyn Nets. Not even Carmelo Anthony’s 20-point performance was enough to save the Knicks, who are now 10 ½ games behind Toronto in the Atlantic Division with a woeful 4-15 record.
It won’t get any easier for the Knicks this coming Thursday as they’ll next face a resurgent Cleveland Cavaliers side in a rematch of their opening night showdown. The Knicks shot incredibly well in that 95-90 upset of the Cavs, burying 53 percent of their field goal attempts while also draining 6 of their 12 three-point shots.
But these are different times for the Knicks, who are struggling mightily on the offensive end right now. They are ninth-worst in the NBA in field goal percentage with a woeful 44.8 percent clip which has contributed to their scoring average plummeting down to just 93.4 points per game, fourth-worst in the entire league.
With their offense misfiring, it is crucial for the Knicks to do a much better job defensively against the Cavs. The Knicks are currently 15th in the league in scoring defense, allowing just 99.2 points per game. Also, this is the same team that limited the Cavs to just 90 points in their first encounter this season.
Of course, it will be much harder now with the Big Three starting to find their groove. The Cavaliers are 11th in the league in scoring, averaging 103.3 points per game. The Knicks will need to pay special attention to LeBron James who’s eager to bounce back from his opening-night debacle.
Expected to guard LeBron James is Iman Shumpert who had some relative success in defending the perennial All-Star in the past. In their last encounter on October 30, James shot just 0-for-2 from the field and had four turnovers when Shumpert was his main defender.
Shumpert will need to watch out for a LeBron James explosion, though. He’s third all-time in scoring average at the famed Madison Square Garden among players with at least 10 games. His average of 29.4 points per game at the historic arena stands just behind the numbers of Michael Jordan (31.8) and Kobe Bryant (30.7).
