Cavaliers vs Hornets Predictions and Odds Feb 4

Cavaliers vs Hornets Betting Preview

WagerTalk NBA handicapper Andy Lang offers his Cavaliers vs Hornets prediction and betting preview for Friday, February 4. At the time of posting, the Hornets are 4.5-point home favorites over the road Cavaliers, with the total sitting at 217 points.

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Friday, February 4	NBA Betting Notes
Point Spread:	Cleveland Cavaliers +4.5 vs Charlotte Hornets
Total:	217 Points
Game Time:	7:10pm ET / 4:10pm PT
Arena:	Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC
TV:	Bally Sports New Orleans

Cavaliers vs Hornets Analysis

Darius Garland will be taking tonight’s game off, that has to be the big story in this one, and that has made the Hornets -4.5 favorites tonight with a total of 219.

Charlotte has been in a slump recently, and this Garland sitting is a nice surprise for them to get a win over a team that is three games ahead of them in the standings.

They played earlier this season when Garland and Sexton played, and the Cavs prevailed 113-110, so we’ll see if Charlotte flips the script and we’ll find the best bet to be had in this game.

No Garland, No Good

The Cavs are 1-1 the last two games without Garland, but the win was a 93-90 win against New Orleans, and they were beat by 11 last game against the Rockets.

I won’t look at against the spread trends with this team as the Garland factor throws it off, but I worry about their lack of scoring.

Only scoring 104 against Houston, who gives up 116.7 a game is a red flag, and only scoring 93 against New Orleans, who gives us 109.5 a game is an even bigger red flag, so I have to wonder where the scoring is going to come from.

Mobley and Love had big games against Houston, but they’ll need more tonight against Charlotte, and they will have an advantage with Mobley, Love and Allen as Charlotte is a bottom four team against centers and power forwards.

Hornets Live and Die by 3s

The Hornets are 2-4 their last six games, and it couldn’t be more clear what their recipe is to winning and losing. In their two wins they averaged around 40% from threes, and in their four losses they averaged below 27%.

That’s what it comes down to, and tonight they will have a huge advantage on the perimeter as the starting guards of Goodwin and Okoro don’t scare anyone.

If Lamelo, Bridges and Rozier can overwhelm the outside, they just need Plumlee and others to muddy up the inside and not let Mobley, Love and Allen dominate. Charlotte hasn’t been good at home recently going 1-4 against the spread so they’ll need to shoot well from three and defend inside to break that streak.

Cavaliers vs Hornets Prediction

Cleveland’s offense has no flow without Garland, and Goodwin and Osman try hard, but they aren’t nearly the same caliber of point guard as Garland. Charlotte is second in pace of play, and that’s going to be a big advantage for them tonight.

If they can get as many possessions as possible, the speed will be too much for the Cavs who just won’t keep up with them in terms of scoring. If Charlotte can get to the 112 mark or above, they should win and cover as I don’t see where the points come from for Cleveland.

Prediction: Hornets -4.5

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Cavaliers vs Hornets Preview from GoldSheet

Suddenly there’s no place like home when the Cavs take the floor, with the host side undefeated in Cleveland’s last seven games. Unfortunately for the Cavs they are on the road tonight, where they’ve lost three in a row, and likely thinned in the backcourt if Darius Garland (back) again can’t make the post.

That’s a bit important for Cleveland, which has an offensive rating of 114.0 with Garland in the lineup, which would be the second-best mark in the NBA, though without him that drops to just 106.5–alongside the 27th ranked Rockets.

Who, it should be added, just beat the Garland-less Cavs on Wednesday. Meanwhile the Hornets had been going pretty well (9-3 SU across a 12-game stretch) before running into the Clippers and Celtics earlier in the week, continuing a recent so-so stretch in which Charlotte has now actually lost four of six.

Nothing wrong with LaMelo Ball, however, after scoring 38 in a losing effort at Boston, though worth noting two of the three least-efficient offensive performances of the season have come within the last two weeks when minus Gordon Hayward, who is iffy for tonight (conditioning after a short stay on the health and protocols list).

Interestingly, these sides split a pair of games during the first two weeks of the season, with the road team winning each, but not sure we want to trust Cleveland to win again at the Bee Hive, especially if Garland remains out.

“Totals” alert–though not airtight every night, Charlotte’s defensive has generally been more sticky since the holidays, reflected in a 14-6 “under” mark the last 20.

NBA Stat Sheet

Each day, WagerTalk handicapper Ralph Michaels puts together his NBA Stat Sheet, which offers a head-to-head comparison for how teams are performing in a number of key areas heading into a game. Check out Friday’s sheet, with notes on tonight’s Cavaliers vs Hornets contest.

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