Cleveland Cavaliers vs Atlanta Hawks Prediction: Cavaliers to avenge play-in loss

There's a reason the NBA brought Atlanta and Cleveland together in a preseason game, as the Hawks knocked the Cavaliers out of the playoffs last season. Will Donovan Mitchell finally be able to bring the Cavs their first win? 

Cleveland can already be considered a full-fledged contender, as they have three All-Star Game participants at once - Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen and Donovan Mitchell. Evan Mobley could also join that company in a few years, so it will be interesting to see how the Cavaliers look against the best clubs in the Eastern Conference. The club has also been thinking about acquiring Jae Crowder, and that would seriously bolster Cleveland's bench. So far the Cavs' reserves include Caris LeVert, Kevin Love, Dean Wade and Ricky Rubio, but the latter, for example, is still recovering from a serious injury while LeVert suffered a major setback at the end of last season. Love, Wade and Mobley are unlikely to play against Atlanta, while Dylan Windler is also sidelined. J.B. Bickerstaff's men have faced only Philadelphia in the preseason so far and lost both games. The last meeting ended with a score of 97-113 in favor of the Sixers. 

After trading away Dejounte Murray, Atlanta is trying to get into the championship race. The club is a good at drafting, but doesn't always manage to do so well. The Hawks have already let Cameron Reddish and Kevin Huerter go, and the next rookie is A.J. Griffin. Griffin has a chance to develop, although the competition on the club is still fierce. As for the center position, it's not all black and white. Yes, there is Clint Capela but Onyeka Okongwu is slowly gaining the coach's trust. Whether John Collins will progress or not is a big question and it's unclear what effect the addition of another playmaker will have on Trae Young's game. Meanwhile, Nate McMillan's team won both preseason games against Milwaukee in Abu Dhabi. In the last meeting, the opponent was without not only Chris Middleton, but also Giannis Adetokunb,o and Atlanta won by a score of 118-109.

• Cleveland lost 6 of 10 home games;
• Atlanta lost 6 of the last 10 away games.

Atlanta has had time to recover from preseason games in Abu Dhabi, the last game was four days ago. On the road against Cleveland, the Hawks will have even more difficulties than against Milwaukee who played without one of their main stars. The Cavaliers have room to step up their game on offense, at least on their shooting from beyond the arc. Donovan Mitchell has to step up, as he is clearly below his level. The Hawks have one more home game ahead of them before the start of the regular season, and it is quite possible that the coach will save his leaders for now. I suggest we bet on the following outcomes:

• H1 (-2) for 1.90;
• W1 (incl. OT) for 1.72;
• TO (223.5) for 1.83.

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