Cleveland Cavaliers vs Charlotte Hornets: Hosts are the favorites

Both teams are not having their best stretch in the league right now, but while Cleveland's been like that for the last five games, the visitors have a longer losing streak.

The Cavaliers have the best defensive rating in the league right now. And taking into account that tonight their opponent will offer only offense, that is a very workable option.

In addition, Garland, who is critical in building good chemistry, is likely to play tonight as well. Cleveland has lost four of the last five games. But tonight, J.B. Bickerstaff's team will be the favorite.

Michael Jordan's team is slipping lower and lower in the standings. They're ninth in the NL East and what will stop the slump has yet to become clear.

However, they have been catching up in every game and there have been overtime in three of the last five matches, even though they lost all of them. Tonight's opponent is as uncomfortable as possible, so once again they will need extra effort to win.

• Cleveland: Rajon Rondo, Caris LeVert, Darius Garland;
• Charlotte: James Bouknight, Gordon Hayward, Jalen McDaniels, Nick Richards.

The teams have met three times this season. In the first game Charlotte enjoyed a solid win (123-112). The next two games were won by Cleveland (113-110 and 103-102), though each meeting ended with a minimal advantage for the Cavaliers. We should not expect a high-scoring game today, especially considering that both teams are on the decline, close scores and narrow margins, but the home team will be the favorite.

• Handicap Cleveland (-2.5) for 1.74;
• Each Team Will Score Over (104.5) for 2.07;
• W Cleveland by 1-5 points for 5.00.