Game Time: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, April 12th, 2022 

Venue:   Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York

Where to Watch: TNT

DraftKings:  Spread:  Nets -8.5; O/U 228.5

Fanduel:  Spread:  Nets -8.5; O/U 228.5

BetMGM:  Spread: Nets -8.5; O/U 228.5

Cavaliers: 44-38, 8th place Eastern Conference

Nets: 44-38, 7th place Eastern Conference

An Eastern Conference Play-In game.  The 8th place Cavaliers must play the 7th place Brooklyn Nets.  The winner gets the 7th spot in the playoffs… the loser must play the winner of the #9 vs #10 game for a chance to have the 8th spot.  There is some intrigue because word on the street is that neither team really wants to play the Milwaukee Bucks who finished in 2nd place.  So neither team may really want the #7 spot!  Uh-Oh!  The Miami Heat finished #1 in the East but are widely considered the easiest of the top four to upset if you had your choice between the Heat, Bucks, Celtics, or 76ers.  All of that may be nonsense… The Cavs and the Nets shouldn’t quibble over who they are going to play to the point where they risk not being in the Playoffs entirely… still it is some legitimate intrigue.  The Cleveland Cavaliers have a great, young, talented, roster.  It’s true PG Darius Garland,  C Jarret Allen, and PF Evan Mobley combine to be quite a force. The reason this team did not get the 6th spot and qualify outright is that C Jarrett Allen has missed a month with a fractured middle finger… that stretched the team by putting rookie PF Evan Mobley in the Center spot…. Still the team is wonderfully deep after those top 3 guys.  Plus they would be even better had PG Collin Sexton not missed the entire season with a knee injury.  Sexton is a 20 point scorer and he will not be back until next season… in time to join whoever is drafted or traded for.  For the Cavs NOW… they are at a disadvantage because of Allen’s absence.  The Brooklyn Nets have an entire team constructed around SF Kevin Durant, the best pure sorcerer in the NBA… and PG Kyrie Irving a legit top ten player with the best crossover moves in the entire league.  Either guy could get hot and either guy could win a single game for the team.  The problem in Brooklyn is that they play Swiss Cheese Defense…. More of a disease than a plan.  Swiss Cheese Defense means that the rest of the roster is so random and pieced together that they have to turn everything into a track meet to win. Another thing that hurts the Nets is SG Joe Harris who is firmly on the injured list with a severe ankle injury.  The intrigue with the Nets is they have been hinting that SG/SF Ben Simmons (a guy who absolutely can not shoot) could rejoin the team he has never played for for the first round… they just have to get there.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have won only 3 of their last 10 games… They went 3-7 ATs during that stretch. If they had done even 1 game better they would be the home team!... If they had won 6 of ten, they would be in the 6th spot and wouldn’t even have to worry about this Play-In tournament game.  The Cavs rely heavily on PG Darius Garland who leads the team in points and assists 21.7, 8.6.  Darius is young, talented, and solid.  C Evan Mobley may be the top ROY candidate… but he is struggling in the Center spot.  Evan belongs at the PF spot where he can score and rebound with defensive help coming from shot block master Jarrett Allen.  The Cavs have employed a scoring offense of late and should do the same in the Play-In tourney… They have SF Isaac Okoro at SG and SG Caris LaVert at SF… If they had Jarret Allen available those guys would not be out of position… but they are… and they are all still scoring well… they will need guys off the bench like Kevin Love and Cedi Osman to help outscore the Nets.

The Brooklyn Nets are not slotted into the standings anywhere close to where basketball fans assumed when they started the season with SF Kevin Durant, PG James Harden, and SG Krie Irving… if you noticed I listed Kyrie as the Shooting Guard… It’s because James Harden is a better Point Guard… But none of that worked out for one reason and one reason alone… Kyrie Irving is a bad teammate.  It’s not even close… he may be the worst teammate of the last decade.  He downplayed LeBron’s role in his only Championship. He announced his intention to stay in Boston to the Boston fans over a microphone and was met with cheers… then he failed to play well with Tatum and Brown… It was Kyrie’s failing… because Boston PG Marcus Smart who eventually inherited the role (after a few others were tried) is running the team better than Kyrie ever did.  Then Kyrie bolted Boston out of embarrassment of his open personal weaknesses being on display.  The Nets got him and he thanked them by tanking a Big Three by not wanting to get a Covid- shot because he believes the earth is flat and surrounded by an ice-wall.  OK… Now It’s up to Kevin Durangt to rely on Kyrie Irving… and if they ever have to play against Toronto in Toronto Kyrie can’t join them.

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Cleveland is 44-38 on the season, but 42-37-3 ATS.  They have logged 37 Overs, 44 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 19-22 in road games.

Brooklyn is 44-38 on the season, but 33-47-2 ATS (because they are defensively inept). They have notched 40 Overs, 41 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 20-21 in home games.

The Cavaliers are 25th in scoring, 15th in rebounds with 44.2 per game, and 21st in AST/TO ratio with 1.7.  On defense they rank 5th while only allowing 105.7 ppg form opponents.

The Nets are 9th in scoring with 112.9 ppg, 13th in rebounds with 44.4 per game, and 13th in AST/TO ratio with 1.8. On defense they rank 18th while allowing 112.1 ppg form opponents.

Our prediction for Tuesday, April 12th is….. Cavaliers 118 - Nets 114

The Cavs should be bet on here. The best story for the Nets is to have to play their way back in… The season has gone so wrong that maybe a second Play-In game will energize the Nets into playing as a team… which I guarantee you the Cavs will do.  Plus you will get plenty of points on the point spread to put in your pocket.

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Brooklyn is 9-31 ATS at home this season, including 5-26 ATS as a favorite.
Brooklyn is 2-0 ATS versus Cleveland at Brooklyn the last 3 seasons.
2 of 3 games in this series have gone Over. 
Cleveland is 27-12 ATS off an ATS win.

Cavaliers: C Jarrett Allen (finger) Out ** PG Colin Sexton (knee) Out

Nets: SF Ben Simmons (back & Head) Out ** SG Seth Curry (ankle) Prob ** PG Goran Dragic (ill) Out ** SG Joe Harris (ankle) Out

Cavs: SF Caris LaVert, PF Lauri Markkanen, C Evan Mobley, PG Darius Garland, SG Isaac Okoro

Nets: SF Kevin Durant, PF Kessler Edwards, C Andre Drummond, SG Bruce Brown, PG Kyrie Irving

Cavs: J.B Bickerstaff

Nets: Steve Nash