Game Time: 7:00 PM ET, Monday, November, 1st, 2021 

Venue: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, North Carolina

Where to Watch:  NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread: Hornets -4 :  O/U: 

BetMGM:  Spread: Hornets -4:  O/U: 

Cavaliers:  3-4, 11th place (Eastern Conference)

Hornets: 4-2, 5th place (Eastern Conference)

The NBA season is underway and the Cavaliers are hanging in there. Yes, they are below .500 after 7 games… but they have beaten the Hawks, the Clippers, and the Nuggets indicating a slight improvement over last season.  The Cavs roster has big plans for rookie Evan Mobley who logged 17 points and 9 rebounds in his debut.  They will play with the lineup all throughout the first half of the season because of a dearth of talented Big Men… Mobley, Jarrett Allen, Kevin Love, Lauri Markkanen.  Everyone knows that at the Trade deadline someone in the West will give up something for Kevin Love for his immediate playoff help and huge expiring contract (at the end of 22-23 season). 

The Hornets have felt the effects of an offensive explosion that started with the season opener and only let up during the last game against the Miami Heat.  The cause of this offense is clearly the ascension of Miles Bridges and the variety of skills new star LaMelo Ball brings.  Winning is a relatively new feeling for the Hornets and they must maintain the positive vibes that are pushing them along.  Otherwise they’ll regress to just be the team that busts Twitter because of what LaMelo is wearing.

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RECENT FORM

The Cavs have lost to the Memphis Grizzlies, the Charlotte Hornets, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Phoenix Suns.  Wedged in between those four losses was a little 3-game win streak over the Atlanta hawks, the Denver Nuggets, and the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Hornets lost their last game to the Miami Heat.  Their only other loss was an overtime shooting battle against the Boston Celtics.  They have beaten Indiana, Cleveland, Brooklyn, and Orlando.  PG/SG Terry Rozier has been on the injured list and may miss this one too.  Still LaMelo should have the advantage over either Cleveland guard.  

The Cavs are 24th in points scored on the season so far.  They are not hitting 3 point shots, 28th in the league. The only thing keeping the Cavs in any games is they are 10th in the league in offensive rebounds.

The Hornets are 1st in the league in points scored, 8th in 3pt shots made, and 9th in offensive rebounding.  The Cavs will not be able to hang with the Hornets, unless the Hornets themselves have a bad game.  The Hornets have a 56.1 effective field goal percentage and they have all the athleticism needed to stop Cleveland’s undersized guards.  The one area of concern will be Mason Plumlee facing all those Cavs big men with mostly rookies to come to his aid… they are good rookies though.

Our prediction for Monday, November, 1st is…  Hornets 123 - Cavs 115

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Charlotte is 4-2 ATS versus Cleveland over the last 3 seasons.

Cleveland is 18-11 ATS versus Charlotte at Charlotte since 1996.

Both games (2 of 2) of this series have gone UNDER over the last 3 seasons.

Cavs: F Isaac Okoro (hamstring) quest ** PG Kevin Pangos (personal) Quest

Hornets: PG/SG Terry Rozier (ankle) Probable

Cavs: PG Darius Garland, SG Collin Sexton, SF Lauri Markkanen, PF Evan Mobley, C Jarrett Allen

Hornets: PG LaMelo Ball, SG Kelly Oubre Jr, SF Gordon Hayward, PF Miles Bridges, C Mason Plumlee

Cavs

Points: Collin Sexton 17.3

Rebounds: Jarrett Allen 9

Assists: Darius Garland 8.2

Steals: Ricky Rubio 1.3

Blocks: Evan Mobley 1.4

Hornets

Points: Miles Bridges 25.5

Rebounds: Mason Plumlee 9.3

Assists: LaMelo Ball 6

Steals: Miles Bridges 1.8

Blocks: Miles Plumlee 1.2

Cavs:  J.B. Bickerstaff.  The Cavaliers go through head coaches like I go through Kleenex in pollen season.  Also when they fire these guys they usually are 100% wrong.  They fired Chuck Daly after 41 games decades ago… he went on to NBA Championships with the Pistons, Hall of Fame, Olympic Gold… making the ESPN list of ten best NBA coaches ever.  This franchise gave David Blatt, Larry Drew, John Beilein almost no chance to do well.  Hopefully J.B. Bickerstaff is given the chance, but something tells me that is entirely dependent on whether the roster is randomly good.  Good Luck J.B.

Hornets: James Borrengo. James got the job in 2018, but until the Hornets got LaMelo Ball I rarely ever heard his name.  He has the makings of something special in Charlotte.  Good Luck James.