Cleveland Cavaliers vs Charlotte Hornets Prediction, Odds, Best Bets - Opening Week

Charlotte has lost six straight and scores 96.3 points a game, the lowest figure in the league, and now the Hornets host Cleveland without Brandon Miller, the player who leads them in scoring. Cleveland is 5-5 and nothing special on the road, and the tension at Spectrum Center is whether the Cavaliers bring their real offense, or let a stripped-down home team hang around.

The Matchup

Charlotte is 3-7, scores 96.3 points per game and allows 110.2, and the Hornets have lost six straight. The last five were worse than the record. Charlotte scored 79, 104, 91, 104 and 80 points in them, and the most recent was a 119-80 home loss to Boston on Friday. Brandon Miller leads Charlotte at 20.6 points per game, and Miller is out with groin soreness.

Dennis Schroder, who leads the team in assists at 4.9, is out with a hamstring strain. Kon Knueppel and Grant Williams are also out, and Moussa Diabate, who leads Charlotte on the glass at 9.1 rebounds, is day-to-day with a quadriceps problem. Keep an eye on whether Diabate plays before placing a bet.

Cleveland is 5-5, scores 117.0 and allows 114.1, and the Cavaliers arrive as the far healthier team in this matchup. Donovan Mitchell leads Cleveland at 24.0 points per game, James Harden leads the team in assists at 5.8, and Evan Mobley leads it on the glass at 8.1 rebounds.

Cleveland beat Philadelphia 119-95 and lost 109-97 to New York in its last two games, and the Cavaliers are 1-3 on the road. Jarrett Allen is day-to-day with a knee problem, and Sam Merrill and Jaylon Tyson are out. Keep an eye on whether Allen plays before placing a bet.

Both teams have played ten games, so the numbers in this game are this season's alone, with nothing carried over from last year. DraftKings makes Cleveland an 8.5-point road favorite at Spectrum Center, with a total of 215.5 and the Cavaliers at -337 on the moneyline.

Key Factors

Charlotte's offense is the whole story, because it barely exists right now. A team scoring 96.3 a night at full strength has now lost the two players who lead it in scoring and assists, and its recent home games produced 80 points against Boston and 91 against Detroit.

Cleveland's defense is ordinary, and ordinary is more than enough against an offense starting from that floor. The Hornets do not have a healthy creator who bends a defense, and half-court possessions without one end in the kind of shots Cleveland can live with all night.

The frontcourt tilts the same way. Mobley gives Cleveland a mobile big who scores and rebounds, and if Allen plays, Charlotte has to deal with both of them with Williams out and Diabate questionable at best. Charlotte's one reliable path to points is second chances, and that path runs through Diabate. Without him, Cleveland ends possessions with rebounds and turns the game into a fresh set of chances for Mitchell and Harden to work against a defense that has allowed 112.2 a night over its last five games.

The case against Cleveland is Cleveland. The Cavaliers are 5-5, they are 1-3 on the road, and their recent losses include a home game where they scored 97. A favorite this ordinary can let a bad home team hang around, especially early, and 8.5 points is a real number to clear on the road.

What pushes back is the state of the home team. Charlotte is not an ordinary bad team right now. It is a bad team missing its best scorer, its lead guard, and possibly its best rebounder, on a six-game losing run. There is a difference, and it is most of this spread.

Every pick is published with its line before the game. Odds via consensus sportsbooks at time of writing and move constantly. Must be 21+. If gambling is a problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.