Is tonight going to be the night that Donovan Mitchell returns from injury for the Cleveland Cavalier, or will they have to wait? Mitchell is listed as questionable for this matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder, down in OKC, so there is a chance that he returns for the Cavs who are coming off a 113-95 win over Houston.
OKC and Houston have both been tanking the past few years, but they’re in very different spots now. The Thunder are 23-25 with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as a legitimate star player that can go toe-to-toe with anyone in the league.
If Mitchell is back on the floor, then we’ll have a fantastic showdown of two of the best guards in basketball. If not, we’ve still got an intriguing matchup on our hands down in Oklahoma, so let’s get into the odds.
This really comes down to if Mitchell is playing tonight. Mitchell has missed five games, and I always expect NBA teams to exercise extreme caution in the regular season, so I’d expect him to be sidelined for at least one more game. Without Mitchell, the offense hasn’t really dropped off all that much, for the season, they’re tenth in offensive rating, over the last five games, they’re 14th. The issue is close games, the Cavs have lost two one-possession games without Mitchell, 115-114 to Memphis and 105-103 to New York.
Without Mitchell, Cleveland just doesn’t have the same offensive options down the stretch of a close game and they don’t have the guy that they lean on to hit the big shot. Memphis had Ja Morant, New York had Jalen Brunson, and OKC has SGA.
The Thunder are 14-10 at home this year, and they’re one point favorites in this game. They’ll miss having Lu Dort on the floor, but it’s not nearly as big of a loss and Mitchell is, so I’ll take the Thunder.
OKC-1
-105
spreads
Cleveland Cavaliers @ Oklahoma City Thunder
01/27 7:00PM
If the Oklahoma City Thunder win by 2 or more, a $10.50 bet on them will win you $10for a total payout of $20.50.
