Cavs at Nuggets game preview

Cavs are looking for their sixth straight win.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are looking to improve their league-best record tonight against the Denver Nuggets. You can watch the game live with Jackson Flickinger and Tony Pesta (questionable) on Playback.

Who: Cleveland Cavaliers (26-4) vs. Denver Nuggets (16-12)

Where: Ball Arena – Denver, CO

When: 9 p.m., Friday, Dec. 27

TV: Fanduel Sports Network Ohio (previously Bally Sports), NBA League Pass

Line: Cavs -2.5

Expected Cavs starting lineup: Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Sam Merrill, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen.

Cavs injury report: Isaac Okoro – OUT (shoulder), Dean Wade – QUESTIONABLE (knee), Craig Porter – OUT (G League), Emoni Bates – OUT (G League), Luke Travers – OUT (G League), JT Thor – OUT (G Legue)

Expected Nuggets starting lineup: Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Michael Porter Jr., Peyton Watson, Nikola Jokic

Nuggets injury report: Aaron Gordon – OUT (calf), Vlato Cancar – OUT (knee), DaRon Holmes III – OUT (achilles), Jamal Murray – PROBABLE (ankle), PJ Hall – OUT (G League), Trey Alexander – OUT (G League)

What to watch for:

The Cavaliers have won their last five games, each by double-digits. Their last outing was an all-around team effort as four different players scored 20+ points in Cleveland’s win over the Utah Jazz.

Evan Mobley has been especially dominant during this stretch. He’s averaging 20 points, 8.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2 stocks per game while shooting 64% from the field and 5-10 from deep. This has been a breakout season for Mobley, who should be well on his way to his first All-Star nod. He’s hit 3+ three-pointers in three separate games this season — more than any of his previous seasons combined.

The Nuggets are already a limited defensive team with no real rim protector. The loss of Aaron Gordon for tonight’s game will make them potentially more vulnerable to an offensive explosion from Cleveland. The Cavaliers are currently 1st in Net and Offensive Ratings over their last 10 games.

The last time the Cavs faced the Nuggets, it resulted in an exhilarating victory for Cleveland. The Cavaliers hit a season-high 22 three-pointers while holding Nikola Jokic to an inefficient 27 points on 26 shot attempts. Winning on the road won’t be as easy — but let’s hope the end result is close enough.

If you want to watch games with us — either tonight or in the future — it’s super easy to sign up:

• First, head over to playback.tv and create an account with your email address
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• After that, go to https://www.playback.tv/fearthesword and hit the JOIN button
• Finally, make sure to activate push notifications so you know when we’re going live!

You can join in on all of the action HERE. You can also listen in right here on FTS in the player below.