Who’s Playing
Charlotte Hornets @ Cleveland Cavaliers
Current Records: Charlotte 7-26, Cleveland 30-4
How To Watch
- When: Sunday, January 5, 2025 at 6 p.m. ET
- Where: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse — Cleveland, Ohio
- TV: FanDuel SN – Charlotte
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online streaming: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket Cost: $37.49
What to Know
Hornets fans better hope the squad plays one heck of a game on Sunday as the odds are decidedly against them. They will challenge the Cleveland Cavaliers at 6:00 p.m. ET at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The Hornets have a tough task ahead: they’ll enter the matchup with nine straight losses, while the Cavaliers will come in with nine straight wins.
The Hornets are headed into this one after the oddsmakers set last week’s over/under low at 215.5, but even that wound up being too high. They took a 98-94 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Pistons. Charlotte was up 65-52 in the second but couldn’t hold on to the lead.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers beat the Mavericks 134-122 on Friday. That’s two games straight that Cleveland has won by exactly 12 points.
Evan Mobley was nothing short of spectacular: he dropped a double-double on 34 points and ten rebounds.
The Cavaliers were working as a unit and finished the game with 38 assists (they’re ranked fifth in assists per game overall). That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they’ve now racked up at least 25 assists in 13 consecutive games.
Charlotte’s defeat dropped their record down to 7-26. As for Cleveland, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they’ve won 13 of their last 14 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 30-4 record this season.
While only the Cavaliers took care of their fans the last time they played, both teams pleased bettors by covering the spread. Going forward, the game looks promising for the Cavaliers, as the team is favored by a full 15.5 points. This contest will be their 19th straight as the favorites (so far over this stretch they are 13-5 against the spread).
Keep an eye on the arc in Sunday’s contest: The Hornets have made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having averaged 14.3 threes per game. However, it’s not like the Cavaliers struggle in that department as they’ve been averaging 16.4. Given these competing strengths, it’ll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Odds
Cleveland is a big 15.5-point favorite against Charlotte, according to the latest NBA odds.
The oddsmakers were right in line with the betting community on this one, as the game opened as a 15.5-point spread, and stayed right there.
The over/under is 223 points.
See NBA picks for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine’s advanced computer model. Get picks now.
Series History
Cleveland has won 6 out of their last 10 games against Charlotte.
- Dec 07, 2024 – Cleveland 116 vs. Charlotte 102
- Nov 17, 2024 – Cleveland 128 vs. Charlotte 114
- Apr 14, 2024 – Charlotte 120 vs. Cleveland 110
- Mar 27, 2024 – Charlotte 118 vs. Cleveland 111
- Mar 25, 2024 – Cleveland 115 vs. Charlotte 92
- Apr 09, 2023 – Charlotte 106 vs. Cleveland 95
- Mar 14, 2023 – Cleveland 120 vs. Charlotte 104
- Mar 12, 2023 – Cleveland 114 vs. Charlotte 108
- Nov 18, 2022 – Cleveland 132 vs. Charlotte 122
- Mar 02, 2022 – Charlotte 119 vs. Cleveland 98
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