This Saturday, the (0-1) Cleveland Cavaliers will travel to Chicago, IL to take on the (1-0) Chicago Bulls. Tip-off will be at 8:00 PM EST inside the United Center. The season is still young, as both of these teams are looking to get hot. There's a long way to go, but neither of these teams will want to drop this game.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are coming into this one after dropping their first game of the season to the Toronto Raptors. They were efficient on the offensive side of the floor, but they still came up short. Their offseason additions also looked great, as Donovan Mitchell finished with 31 points. He will look to stay hot in this one, as well.
The Chicago Bulls are entering this game after taking down the Miami Heat, 116-108. They also looked great on the offensive end of the floor, as they scored the seventh most points to start the year. DeMar DeRozan picked up right where he le ft off, as he dropped 37 points on Miami.
This game was written/published before last night's results.
The Cleveland Cavaliers did not make it to the playoffs last season, as they have made multiple adjustments to try and make a run. They traded for Donavan Mitchell and they also picked up Ricky Rubio and Robin Lopez. According to dunksandthrees.com, the Cavaliers have an adjusted offensive rating of 107.8, which is the 18th-highest rating in the league. They are also scoring 105 points per game and shooting 49.4% from the field. This is the 23rd most points scored and the fifth-highest team shooting percentage. Cleveland also showed that they could step behind the three-point line and knock down shots from deep. They shot 35.7% from behind the arc in their first game of the season, as this is the 13th-highest percentage in the NBA. I would also watch for Cedi Osman and Donovan Mitchell, as they are leading the team in points this season and they can knock down shots from deep. Cleveland took advantage of their free throw attempts as well, a s they shot 82.6% from the stripe. This is the eighth-highest free throw shooting percentage in the NBA, as they haven't let these free points go to waste.
On the defensive side of the court, the Cavaliers currently have the 23rd-highest adjusted defensive rating, as they struggled to slow down the Raptors in the first game of the season. They are surrendering 108 points per game and allowing their opponents to shoot 41.9% from the floor. This is the 11th least amount of points given up per game and the eighth-lowest shooting percentage allowed in the league. They have shown that they will close out on shooters, as they made it difficult for the Raptors to score. They did struggle to guard behind the three-point line, though. They are allowing their opponents to shoot 43.3% from behind the arc, which is the third-highest percentage in the league. They have to play better defense on the perimeter if they want to keep this game close. The Cavaliers also snat ched 38 total rebounds against Toronto, as this was the 27th most in the league. They will need to secure the ball if they want to avoid giving the Bulls second or third chances to score.
Injury Report: The Cavaliers could be without Darius Garland (Eye) as he is listed as questionable. Dylan Windler is also questionable (Ankle).
No House Advantage: Bet on player over/unders VS THE HOUSE to 21x your bet OR play in PICK 'EM contests against other people! Click here to get a 1st deposit match up to $50 1st w/ promocode WandW!