Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Brooklyn Nets Prediction, Preview, and Odds

Two Eastern Conference playoff hopefuls do battle on Wednesday night as the Cleveland Cavaliers travel to Brooklyn to take on the Nets. The Cavs finished last season at 51-31 and earned the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs before being upended by the Knicks in the first round. The Nets were swept by the Sixers in four games after earning the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. The opening tap on Wednesday night is scheduled for 7:30 PM EST.

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Can the Cavs Make the Leap

The Cleveland Cavaliers improved from 44 wins to 51 wins last season with the addition of Donovan Mitchell in a big trade with the Utah Jazz prior to the 2022-23 season. The Cavs didn't make any moves of that level this offseason but did make a pretty important acquisition by bringing in former Miami Heat forward Max Strus in a trade. Strus will be asked to improve the corner 3-point shooting for the Cavs this season after the team was exposed late last year once the ball was out of the hands of either Mitchell or point guard Darius Garland. Garland and Mitchell combined to average nearly 50 points per game for the Cavs last year and seven of the team's 11.5 three-point field goals per game. Strus' ability to stretch the floor should give more space for Garland and Mitchell to operate. Inside the Cavs will return Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley in the frontcourt with both capable of providing rebounding and rim protection. Off the bench, the Cavs added free-agent Georges Niang from the 76ers. Niang is another player who can help the Cavs spread the floor with his ability to shoot from long-range.

"I feel like we're right there," Mitchell said when speaking to the additions Boston and Milwaukee made. "At the end of the day, we have high hopes. We have high goals and a high ceiling for us. It starts with now, starts tomorrow, and we can't really focus on what's going on around us."

The Cavs finished the preseason at just 1-3 but they, like most contenders, were more concerned with staying healthy than winning games in the preseason. Still, the Cavs do come into the season opener a bit banged up with point guard Garland and center Allen both a bit banged up by the end of preseason. Both appear ready to go for the opener in Brooklyn. The Cavs struggled on the road last season with a record of just 20-21 away from Cleveland. This will be a good chance to gauge how they'll be on the road this season against a talented but beatable Nets team. Cleveland had a couple of major issues to address in the offseason: perimeter shooting and frontcourt depth. They answered the first need by picking up Strus and Niang, both from playoff-tested teams. The frontcourt still looks a bit thin behind Allen and Mobley.

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New Era in Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Nets went all in a few seasons ago by adding Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden to their roster in an attempt to win the title after developing a talented but cheap roster over the course of a few seasons. The experiment was an abject failure and just two seasons later, all of the principals are gone. In place of their former Big Three are the likes of Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, and perhaps the most intriguing player in the NBA, Ben Simmons. The Nets are not championship-driven this season but they are a team very capable of making the playoffs in the rugged Eastern Conference. Bridges and Simmons are both excellent defenders and capable of covering multiple positions on the floor. Johnson and Bridges are good spot-up shooters and Simmons is one of the best ball distributors in the NBA. Around them, the team has guard Spencer Dinwiddie, center Nic Claxton, and role players like Cam Thomas, Royce O'Neal, and Dorian Finney-Smith. The key to the season will likely be Simmons. When he is right, he is one of the top 20 players in the league. Unfortunately, Simmons has not been healthy either mentally or physically for the better part of the last three seasons.

“We feel like we have been given really solid clarity as to what he is experiencing, how and why and, most importantly, what needs to happen (now) to allow him to move forward with consistency and regularity,” Bernie Lee, Simmons’ agent said prior to the season. “We feel like we have been given really solid clarity as to what he is experiencing, how and why and, most importantly, what needs to happen (now) to allow him to move forward with consistency and regularity,” Bernie Lee, Simmons’ agent

The Nets come into this season both optimistic and anxious for it to get underway. They are hopeful to have a full season of Ben Simmons along with forwards Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson. The trio are part of a new core for the Nets as they try to rebuild back into a championship-caliber squad. The Nets finished last season 45-37 overall and 23-18 at home. Those numbers are more than respectable given that they spent much of the season without Simmons and had on and off-the-court issues with Durant and Irving. They were a top 12 defense last season, a number that should actually improve with Simmons in the lineup regularly. They were also an efficient 3-point shooting team, ranking fifth in the NBA. That number may drop a bit with Bridges a more streaky shooter than Durant and Simmons reluctant to shoot at all. Still, they have the makings of an effective two-way team this season that may be better than some experts think.

Key Injuries: PG Dennis Smith Jr. is listed as day-to-day with an ankle injury.

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The Nets could be one of the surprise teams in the Eastern Conference this season. Certainly, they will be better to start the season with Simmons ready to play. His ability to defend multiple players will come in handy immediately on Wednesday night with scorers like Mitchell and Garland on the Cavs. Also worth noting is that Garland has been nursing an injury and may not be at full strength in the opener. Either way, I expect Nets' head coach Jacque Vaughn to utilize his two top defenders, Bridges and Simmons, on a variety of people on opening night. Their length and ability to match up on different positions should cause issues for the Cavs. In addition, the Cavs were just 20th in the NBA in defending the 3-point shot last season, and, with Simmons' ability to see the floor, he should be able to find open shooters like Bridges, Dinwiddie, and Johnson. The Cavs will spend some of the early part of the season sorting out their rotation and floor spacing for Strus and Niang and they will get better. This is a good time for the Nets to get the Cavs as they sort through their offense.

Take the Nets +3

Prediction: Nets +3

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Roster changes take time to gel, certainly a bit longer than just a few preseason games. Both of these teams have gone through some big changes in their rotations and will be certainly not at the top of their games offensively early on. Additionally, these two teams finished in the bottom ten in the NBA in points per game last season. The Cavs also led the lead in scoring defense in 2022-23, allowing 106 points per game. The Nets were solid in that department as well, finishing 9th in the NBA. The Nets numbers should improve this season with Simmons in the lineup.

Take the under.

Prediction: Under 220.5

Mark has been a sports fanatic since childhood. He is also an avid follower of sports analytics and has used it in his own betting analysis for over two decades. Now we have Mark on our team here at Stat Salt. He holds degrees in marketing, broadcasting, and English and uses this vast array of assets to dissect and analyze game matchups. Mark will provide you with a wide variety of statistics to consider and a strong opinion in each matchup that he covers. Please follow him daily for an up-to-the-minute analysis of all the important games.