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Game Tonight: OKC Thunder vs Cavaliers Odds, Injury Report, Prediction, for Dec. 10

By Tamberlyn Richardson

OKC Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) blocks a shot by Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley : Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
OKC Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) blocks a shot by Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley : Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /
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Up next on the road trip for the OKC Thunder is a stop in Cleveland to face the Cavaliers.

Having already gone through the rebuild process the Cavaliers are a club Sam Presti is likely paying close attention to. They used a combination of building through the draft and hit the jackpot with Darius Garland and Evan Mobley specifically.

While the Nets were eyeing Big 3 All-Stars, Koby Altman recognized how valuable Jarret Allen was and snatched him up for a song. This offseason, the Cavs GM continued to make moves bolstering his roster by being the team who won the Donovan Mitchell trade.

They enter this match seeded third in the East and while they’ve definitely taken a leap upward there are still holes in their roster at specific positions.

Read on to get the details for this exciting matchup and learn why Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could be poised for a big night at the office.

  • Scroll down for our Thunder – Cavaliers Prediction and Game Details

OKC Thunder vs Cavaliers Odds, Spread, Over/Under

The Cavaliers are favored by 6.5 points which seems pretty hefty given they were the team who played on Friday not the OKC Thunder. The over/under is 225 and the moneyline places OKC at plus +200 and the Cavs at minus -240.

Some other betting notables:

  • The OKC Thunder are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games.
  • The Cavaliers are 8-4 SU in their last 12 games.
  • The OKC Thunder are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games when in Cleveland.
  • The Cavaliers are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games when hosting OKC
  • The total has gone under in 4 of OKC’s last 5 games on the road.
  • The Cavaliers are 1-5-1 ATS in their last 7 games played in December.
  • The total has gone OVER in 10 of OKC’s last 15 games.
  • The total has gone under in 5 of Cleveland’s last 5 games at home.
  • The OKC Thunder are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 games played in December.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

Injury Report

Kenrich Williams remains out dealing with a sore knee. Chet Holmgren is out for the season.

The Cavaliers hadn’t submitted their official injury report as of this posting but the knowns are Dean Wade (shoulder), Dylan Windler (ankle), and Ricky Rubio (knee) are out indefinitely.

OKC Thunder vs. Cavaliers key matchup and prediction

This is the first of two meetings between the clubs this season with OKC playing host on January 27th.

As I noted above the Cavaliers while much improved have a glaring hole on the wing. With Wade out, they are even thinner at that position.  While the Cavs have what some have deemed to be four All-Star-worthy players (Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley) they don’t have depth at the wing.

That’s concerning in a league where all teams need defenders who can stop the likes of LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Kevin Durant, etc.

J.B. Bickerstaff has countered by getting Allen to protect the rim and captain the defense as he and Mobley both try to guard out to the perimeter and are willing to guard one through five.

That’s worked to an extent for the Cavs but they’ve had issues with the smallish backcourt dealing with taller and/or speedier guards.

The Cavs allow the fewest points per game (104.9) while they limit teams to 45.4 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from deep ranking fourth and tenth.

And, they have a stellar home record of 11-2 (just losing their second game Friday to the Kings). However, dive a little deeper and there is a reason to question whether the Cavs record isn’t partially a result of their easier first-quarter schedule.

Case in point, of their 11 home wins only three occurred against winning clubs (Boston, Atlanta, Portland). Damian Lillard was out in their match, and the Hawks also benefitted from an easier schedule so their record is a bit of fool’s gold. Undoubtedly their two overtime wins against the Celtics were their most impressive of the season.

On the road, Cleveland has been less successful, again in the deep dive it’s notable eight of their opponents had winning or even records when they played and they only collected ONE win versus that group (Celtics in overtime).

Even when they’ve dealt with injuries their starters haven’t missed games at the same time. Other than a team choice to rest players (Pistons) twice Allen was out with one other starter.

Offensively, the Cavs perform well from a proficiency standard shooting 47.7 percent from the field (9th) and 37.4 percent from deep (8th) but rank 18th in scoring per game (111.5).

In contrast, the OKC Thunder are feasting on offense posting the sixth most points per game with 116.4. Their issue is finding proficiency as they rank 23rd from the field (46.0%) and 20th on the perimeter (34.0%).

Clearly, defense is the area that the Thunder need the most work allowing the second-most points per game (117.9) while limiting opponents to 46.9 percent from the field (17th) and 35.7 percent from deep (16th).

Adding fuel to the belief the Thunder have a shot to steal this matchup is the Cavs played Friday with their core logging 32 to 41 minutes yet they failed to score 100 points against a defensively mediocre Kings club who was missing De’Aaron Fox!

Rookie Keegan Murray and Kevin Huerter scored 18 and 19 points respectively on efficient shooting and Domantas Sabonis ate (18 points, 18 rebounds, six assists, three steals, two blocks).

All this adds up to the potential for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to have a big night in Cleveland. His height gives him an automatic advantage over Garland or Mitchell. Granted, he’ll need to deal with Allen at the rim but he’s got plenty of tools in his kit to select from.

It’ll come down to the Thunder moving the ball and themselves to find that open shot and if they deliver on that task they could end up with the win!

I’d take the 6.5 points and any prop bet on SGA scoring 30 or more as he propels the Thunder to their 12th win of the season.

What channel is the Thunder-Cavaliers game on?

Per usual the game will be broadcast on Bally Sports Oklahoma or NBA League Pass. Tip-Off is set for 7:30 p.m. EST (6:30 CT) from the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, Cleveland, Ohio.

OKC Thunder vs. Cavaliers Live Stream

If you need a live stream of the event, check out FuboTV for a free trial!

Thunder Next Game and Schedule

The final stop of the road trip finds the OKC Thunder traveling to Dallas on Monday to play the Mavericks.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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