Charlotte Hornets vs Cleveland Cavaliers Prediction, 12/23/2020 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Charlotte Hornets vs Cleveland Cavaliers

Date: Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Location: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, OH

TV: Fox Sports Ohio

Odds/Point Spread: Charlotte (+1)

Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse is the venue where and the Cleveland Cavaliers (19-46 last year) will play the Charlotte Hornets (23-42 last season) on Wednesday. The spread on this game has Cleveland as 1-point favorites. The O/U opens at 218.

Charlotte comes into this matchup after finishing with a win-loss mark of 23-42 last year. They had an average of 102.9 points per outing (30th in basketball) while hitting 43.4% from the floor. The Hornets shot 35.2% on three-point shots (785 of 2,231) and 74.8% from the charity stripe. As a team, Charlotte pulled down 42.8 rebounds per game and earned 1,549 dimes last season, which ranked 25th in the league in terms of passing the ball. They lost possession via turnover 14.6 times per game and as a basketball team committed 18.8 personal fouls every game. Defensively, the Hornets forced their opponents into 14.4 turnovers per game and they drew 20.6 fouls. The Hornets defense gave up and opponent field goal percentage of 47.6% (2,708 of 5,690) and they relinquished 46.0 rebounds per game as a team. They were 17th in the NBA in allowing assists to the opposition with 1,732 relinquished last season. They surrendered 35.2% from 3-point land and they ranked 12th in the NBA in PPG allowed (109.6).

The Charlotte Hornets took the court against the Miami Heat and walked away with a win by a score of 109-98 in their last game of the season. Charlotte walked away from the game with a 45.1% FG percentage (37 of 82) and knocked down 17 of 34 3-pointers. From the free throw line, the Hornets made 18 of 22 shots for a percentage of 81.8%. Regarding grabbing rebounds, they compiled 50 with 15 of them being on the offensive end. They also doled out 20 dimes in this matchup in addition to getting 7 steals and 4 rejections. Concerning the defense, Charlotte allowed 46.4% from the field on 39 of 84. Miami doled out 32 dimes and 8 steals in this matchup. Additionally, the Heat snagged 36 boards (9 offensive, 27 defensive) and got 5 rejections. Miami shot 83.3% from the charity stripe by making 5 of their 6 tries. They also knocked down 15 out of their 44 attempts from 3-point land.

Devonte' Graham is a player who was a major factor for this game. He ended up with 30 points on 11 out of 19 shooting. He played 36:57 and grabbed 2 rebounds. Graham finished 57.9% from the field and totaled 6 assists. An additional guy that was a determining factor in this contest for the Hornets was P.J. Washington. He had 7 rebounds and also tallied 2 assists. He ended up shooting 41.2% from the floor for this game by hitting 7-of-17 (17 points). When the final whistle was blown, Washington played 36:09.

Cleveland had a win-loss mark of 19-46 last season. Cleveland totaled 6,948 pts last season (106.9 per contest) and they collected 44.2 rebounds per game. As an offense, the Cavaliers hit 45.8% from the field, which was ranked 19th in basketball. The Cavaliers committed 18.3 personal fouls per game and they shot 75.8% from the charity stripe. They dished out assists 23.1 times per contest (24th in the league) and they turned it over 16.5 times per game. The Cavaliers on defense were ranked 22nd in the NBA in points given up per game with 114.8. They were able to force 13.0 turnovers on a nightly basis and let teams shoot 49.1% from the floor (30th in the league). The Cleveland defense allowed 37.5% on shots from 3-point land (804 of 2,143) and their opponents converted on 76.7% of their free throw attempts. They conceded 26.1 dimes and 42.9 rebounds per contest, which was ranked 29th and 6th in the NBA.

When they last stepped on the court, the Cleveland Cavaliers took a defeat with a final score of 108-103 when they played the Chicago Bulls. The Cavaliers pulled down 26 defensive boards and 9 offensive boards for a total of 35 in the game. They rejected 5 attempts while getting 9 steals in the matchup. The Bulls earned 21 personal fouls in this game which got the Cavaliers to the free throw line for a total of 23 tries. They were able to make 17 of them for a percentage of 73.9%. In relation to three-point attempts, Cleveland made 6 of 24 tries (25.0%). Overall, the Cavaliers finished 40 for 80 from the field which gave them a rate of 50.0%. The Cavaliers allowed the Bulls to convert 42 out of 84 tries from the field which had them shooting 50.0% in the matchup. They finished 35.3% from beyond the arc by shooting 12 of 34 and ended up shooting 12 out of 15 at the free throw line (80.0%). In relation to rebounding, Cleveland permitted Chicago to pull down 46 in total (14 offensive).

Kevin Love ended up having an impact for the Cavaliers in this contest. He buried 5 out of 16 for this contest giving him a rate of 31.3%, which had him sitting at 17 points. Love collected 8 rebounds in his 37:17 of playing time and accounted for 7 dimes in the game. One more player that played a role for Cleveland was Collin Sexton. He scored 26 points in 36:27 on the court via 12 out of 16 shooting for this game. Sexton ended up shooting 75.0% from the floor and also contributing 5 assists and 3 total rebounds.

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Charlotte (+1)

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