The Cleveland Cavaliers will be looking to extend their winning run in the NBA when they travel to the Barclays Center to face the Brooklyn Nets on Friday.
The Nets (20-34) are in 12th place in the Eastern Conference, while the Cavs (44-10) lead the conference standings 5.5 games ahead of the Boston Celtics.
Match preview
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The Brooklyn Nets will be looking to pick back up from where they left off ahead of the NBA All-Star Weekend when they went to three wins in a row with an impressive 100-96 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
D'Angelo Russell led the team with 22 points, five rebounds and four assists, Cameron Johnson contributed 16 points and six rebounds, while Trendon Watford added an important 18 points and two assists off the bench.
Brooklyn led the match by four points heading into the half time break and extended their advantage to 10 by the final quarter before holding off the Sixers, who mounted a late comeback 30-24 in the final period.
Russell, who returned to the franchise in a midseason trade with the Los Angeles Lakers, has been central to Jordi Fernandez's side's resurgence, and following that victory, the team is now just 1.5 games behind the 10th-place Chicago Bulls, which makes a late-season push for the post-season a genuine possibility.
The Nets are still the second-lowest-scoring team in the NBA this season (105.0), but they have managed to remain competitive thanks to their solid defence which allows just 111.0 PPG (eighth in the NBA).
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Meanwhile, the Cleveland Cavaliers have been the best team in the East this season, currently 8-2 and gunning a fifth straight win after thumping the Toronto Raptors 131-108 on the road last Thursday.
It was another team effort from Cleveland that got them their 44th win of the season, with Donovan Mitchell leading the way with 21 points, while six of his teammates also finished in double-digits.
Kenny Atkinson's side have made a habit of flying out the blocks in games this season, and it was no different against the Raps, as they drained a massive 41 points in the first quarter to take a 24-point lead, and never looked back from then on.
Atkinson also led Team Shaq's OGs to the title in the All-Star game last weekend, and after securing a contract extension for Mitchell - which many feel is the biggest signing since LeBron James' return in 2014 - the team look set to be frontrunners heading into the postseason.
The Cavs have been cashing tickets at a fair clip this season (35-19-0 ATS) and are the second-highest-scoring team in the NBA, averaging 122.7 points per game, while allowing 111.9 on the defensive end (11th overall).
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Team News
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Cam Thomas and Noah Clowney sat out the last match but were expected to return after the weekend's All-Star events, offering crucial reinforcements to help the Nets defend their hot streak.
De'Anthony Melton is expected to miss the rest of the 2024-25 season due to a torn ACL, while Bojan Bogdanovic has not received any recent updates since his surgery last April and will remain sidelined for the foreseeable future.
For the Cavaliers, Isaac Okoro and Dean Wade both missed the match against the Raptors due to a shoulder and knee injury, respectively, and neither are likely to feature against the Nets on Friday.
Ty Jerome was listed as questionable and ended up missing the last match, while Max Strus overcame an ankle issue to start against the Raps last week and he should be good to go in this one.
Brooklyn Nets possible starting five:
Johnson, Williams, Claxton, Russell, Watford
Cleveland Cavaliers possible starting five:
Mobley, Hunter, Allen, Mitchell, Garland
We say: Cleveland Cavaliers to win by 7+ points
The Nets are playing their best ball of the season at the moment, but it is difficult to back against the surging Cavaliers, who have been taking on all-comers this season and are gunning for a fifth win on the bounce.
Brooklyn will put up a fight on their home court having had the weekend to recoup, but we fancy the Cavs to secure a fairly comfortable victory.
Devesh Jaganath
