The 9-29 Cleveland Cavaliers will hit the road to face the 15-21 LA Lakers in an NBA pro basketball game on Sunday night. Tip off time from Staples Center in Los Angeles is scheduled for 9:30PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by the NBA League Pass Channel.
The current NBA odds in this game have the home standing LA Lakers favored by -8 points and the over under line of 211 points. There has been no line movement since the odds opened up a few hours ago in this game.
The teams met back on December 11th and it was Cleveland with the 100-94 home win against the Lakers as a +12 ½ point underdog. The game ended under 206 points.
The Cavs sit at 5-17 straight up on the road this season. They have lost six of their past eight games after a 98-91 road defeat on Friday night to the Denver Nuggets as a +12 ½ point underdog. The total landed under 205 ½ points. Cleveland fails to hold a four point lead after three quarters as they get outscored 26-15 in the final period. The Cavaliers are crushed on the glass by Denver as the Nuggets grab 21 more boards. They are missing center Anderson Varejao from the lineup with a knee ailment. Cleveland ranks extremely poorly in two critical areas. They are 29th and second to last in the NBA in shooting percentage making under 42% of their shots. Cleveland is 30th and worst in the NBA in defensive field goal percentage by allowing over 47% shooting.
The Lakers are 10-9 on their home court. The team is in the midst of a six game losing streak. LA is the 11th seed in the Western conference and five games behind eighth seeded Houston Rockets for the final playoff spot with 46 games remaining. They come off the bad 116-101 home defeat on Friday night to the Oklahoma City Thunder as a +6 point underdog. It was the sixth straight game that the Lakers allowed an opponent over 100 points. Defense has been the sore spot for the old team. They allow 102 points game ranking 26th in the NBA for scoring defense. Forward Earl Clark was named the starter on Friday and responded with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Dwight Howard is out with his shoulder injury. Pau Gasol is questionable as he has to pass a concussion test prior to playing.
