Cleveland Cavaliers vs Charlotte Hornets Prediction: Cavaliers to break losing streak

Cleveland lost their last two head-to-head encounters with Charlotte, and now the Cavaliers are considered the undisputed favorites. Will they be able to break their losing streak?

The start of the season can be divided into a black and a white streak for Cleveland Cavaliers. Right now, the Cavaliers have suffered five straight losses and have fallen to fourth place in the Eastern Conference. In most of those losing games, the team was just a handful short of wins. One reason for Cleveland's instability is an injury: Donovan Mitchell missed one game and Jarrett Allen is out due to injury. Mitchell is back on track but Allen's participation is still questionable. Also in the sideline is important Cavaliers' role player Dean Wade, who is among the NBA leaders in three-point field goal attempts. For Ricky Rubio, the season is still on, his return is out of the question anytime soon.

Mitchell's appearance on the court did not help Cleveland defeat Milwaukee in their last regular season game, 98-111. Donovan and Darius Garland combined for just 17 of 39 shot attempts while Caris LeVert also chipped in. The reserves didn't shoot much from beyond the arc, though they usually helped a lot with long-range shots. Evan Mobley was the most efficient player on the team with 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting.

The Hornets have lost 9 of their last 10 regular-season games and are now penultimate in the Eastern Conference. The team seemed to be just beginning to recover from a poor start when LaMelo Ball returned to action, but the young playmaker is out again due to injury. Dennis Smith Jr., who replaced Ball, is also in the sack, and Charlotte was able to compensate for the absence of one of its stars with good defense at the arc on several occasions. Gordon Hayward may theoretically play against Cleveland but it is very questionable.

With Ball in the lineup, Steve Clifford's team defeated Orlando 112-105 on the road, but then lost at home to Indiana, 113-125. It didn't help that LaMelo scored 26 points and made five three-pointers as Terry Rozier, Kelly Oubre, Jr. and P.J. Washington missed a lot. Their defense suffered noticeably under the basket and the Hornets weren't even saved by the fact that they were winning twice as many games on the miracle boards: they tallied 14 offensive rebounds.

Charlotte has noticeably accelerated on offense with the emergence of Ball, the young playmaker has led the offense very well. Now they will have to revert to their old schemes, but also without Dennis Smith Jr. The defense has stopped working and it's a mess under the basket and Cleveland should take advantage of that. J.B. Bickerstaff's team often plays with three big men, putting Dean Wade and Lamar Stevens in the starting lineup. Against Milwaukee, the Cavaliers' frontcourt didn't play well, although Mitchell has been very consistent this season. The home team has plenty of opportunities to step up their offensive game. For example, their reserves have been more productive than they were against the Bucks on the season as a whole. Our prediction:

• H1 (-9.5) for 1.86;
• TU (221.5) for 1.83;
• W1 by 21+ Points for 5.00.

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