Knicks Will Rock Disappointing Cavs Team

Cavs vs. Knicks, 12:00 ET

One of the resolutions, or things I am looking to change about myself for next year is that I want to admit when I am wrong, or at least keep myself as accountable as possible. I feel like I do that with a lot of this sports betting stuff, but I don't know that I do it as much with my family and friends. That's a different conversation, but the reason I'm thinking about it here is that I need to admit I was wrong about something with both teams in this Christmas Day opener, as the Cavs and Knicks kick off NBA action. 

I was wrong about the Cavs before the season started. I thought it was absurd to think that they were going to take a huge step back from last season's success. I was expecting them to come into the year and pick up where they left off last year. Afterall, their success had come in the regular season for the past few years, not the postseason. I was dead wrong, though, as the Cavs look like a shell of the team they once were and are basically a .500 team. If I want to give myself any grace, it is that you really can't predict injuries. They have missed a lot of games from a lot of key players, which definitely is causing some of the issues. No one on the team has played in all of their games, which isn't a surprise, but only three of their starters have played 70% or more. So, perhaps there is still hope for the Cavs, but right now they look like garbage. They are shooting worse on threes this season than last, scoring fewer points overall, and their assists are down from last year. Still, Donnovan Mitchell has been outstanding in most games, averaging 30 points per game, and he absolutely has to. 

Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

The Knicks are a team that I was wrong about in a different way. I thought they were going to be good, but I am a bit surprised about a few things. First, I was wrong that I thought they were dumb for firing Tom Thibodeau after reaching the Eastern Conference Finals last year. I just like Tibs, so my own bias is coming in there. Mike Brown has made the team a bit more dynamic, and certainly deeper. They won the NBA Cup, and they've done a great job of adding more guys into the mix. What surprises me is their splits. They have been very good at home, but remarkably average on the road. They are 20-8 overall, and they are 14-2 at home. That leaves a shockingly bad 6-6 in road games. That could be bad as we get into the later stretch of the year and they have more road games than home ones. For now, it doesn't matter as this game, and the first one against the Cavs was at home. 

The Knicks won the first game against the Cavs, but they were in serious jeopardy of losing it as Mitchell caught fire against them. Mitchell had 31 points on 25 shots, but most of that came in the 3rd quarter as they erased a 15-point deficit. It was clear, though, that the Knicks were the better team, winning the other three quarters. Expect much of the same in this one as the Knicks will once again win, and should do it by a healthy margin. Back the Knicks -5.5.

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