Cleveland is back home for the first time in a week following a 1-2 road trip, and the schedule did it no favors. The Cavaliers lost 133-121 in Miami on Friday night, with James Harden logging 35 minutes and Donovan Mitchell 33. This comes after Wednesday's hard-fought win in New York, where both also played heavy minutes. Evan Mobley missed last night's game with a toe sprain. His status for Saturday is uncertain. The Cavs are 0-2 on the second night of a back-to-back and have dropped five of their last seven overall. Without Mobley, Miami's frontcourt dominated -- with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo scoring 37 apiece. Cooper Flagg is next.
Dallas has been off since Thursday and will look to put a 39-point loss in Minnesota completely behind it. Although it was a woeful night, Flagg and Kyrie Irving played just 27 minutes each. It's easy to develop recency bias in the NBA, but let's not overlook just how good the Mavs duo has been. At 19 years old, Flagg is one of four players averaging at least 24 points, six rebounds and six assists. Irving adds 21.6 a night on 39% from three. Dallas is 7-3 when both play. Four of the Mavericks' seven wins have come as underdogs and they split last season's series, winning in Cleveland in March. The Cavs are 6-7 even with Mitchell and Harden playing every game. I like Dallas to win on the road and continue to raise the temperature in Cleveland's organization. Expect that roster to look different prior to the trade deadline.
Mavericks vs Cavaliers prediction: Mavericks ML (-108) available at time of publishing.
