- 1 Cleveland Cavaliers vs Dallas Mavericks: Flagg’s 43 arrives at a Cavs team on its third game in four nights
- 2 Cleveland Cavaliers: 4-2 at home, but a defense allowing 114 a night
- 3 Dallas Mavericks: three straight wins and a 110.9 defense built around Flagg
- 4 Free NBA Prediction: Cleveland Cavaliers vs Dallas Mavericks
- 5 About our free predictions
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information changes
- 8 Your responsibility
- 9 Responsible gambling
- 10 Legal age
- 11 About visuals
Cleveland Cavaliers vs Dallas Mavericks: Flagg’s 43 arrives at a Cavs team on its third game in four nights 
Cooper Flagg scored 43 points and grabbed 10 rebounds on Monday night, and Dallas needed every one of them to beat Indiana 125-122. It was his season high, his fourth straight double-double, and it came on the second night of a back-to-back.
Kyrie Irving added 35 in that game, with seven threes, after 19 months out with a torn ACL. The Mavericks swept a three-game homestand and are 7-4, three games over .500 for the first time since March 2025.
On the same night, Cleveland lost 124-112 in Charlotte to a Hornets team that had dropped six straight and came in scoring 96.3 points a game, the lowest average in the league. Charlotte made 23 of 46 threes and led by 33 in the third quarter.
The game is Saturday, November 14, at 7:30pm ET in Cleveland. The Cavs play at the Knicks on Wednesday and at Miami on Friday night, so Saturday is the second half of a back-to-back and their third game in four nights. Dallas plays in Minnesota on Thursday and gets Friday off.
Cleveland are 5-6 and have lost two straight. Dallas have won three in a row. No line had been posted at the time of writing, and I’d expect the Cavs to open as short home favorites. That’s the price to oppose.
Dallas sit fourth in the Southwest, two games behind a San Antonio team on nine straight wins. Cleveland are second in the Central, already 2.5 games behind a 7-3 Detroit.
Cleveland Cavaliers: 4-2 at home, but a defense allowing 114 a night 
Kenny Atkinson’s Cavaliers are 4-2 in Cleveland and 1-4 on the road, and their best night came at home, a 119-95 win over Philadelphia last Friday.
Twenty-four hours later New York won 109-97 in Cleveland, with Donovan Mitchell scoring 37 and nobody else doing much. Then came Charlotte, where Meleek Thomas led the team with 18 and James Harden and Mitchell finished with 11 each.
Atkinson played his reserves for the entire fourth quarter in Charlotte, even after they cut the lead to 118-110 with four minutes left. That decision saved some legs for this week, and it followed three quarters in which the starters trailed by as many as 33.
Before Charlotte, Cleveland were scoring 117 points a game and allowing 114.1. Those are the numbers of a team that can trade baskets with anyone and stop very few. Evan Mobley has been the steadiest piece, with 27 points in a 136-111 win at Milwaukee and double-digit rebounds in four games.
Mitchell has led Cleveland in scoring in seven of the 11 games, with 32 in the opener in Philadelphia and 27 in Oklahoma City. The home wins have come against Brooklyn, Minnesota in overtime, Washington and Philadelphia; the two home defeats were to Oklahoma City and New York.
Jaylon Tyson has been listed unavailable, which thins out the wing rotation. On a back-to-back after a game in Miami, that’s the kind of absence that shows up late, when the legs go and the bench has to carry minutes.
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Dallas Mavericks: three straight wins and a 110.9 defense built around Flagg 
Dallas came into Monday allowing 110.9 points a game while scoring 112.1. That’s a thin margin, but it’s a positive one, and it’s been built on the defensive end rather than on shooting nights.
Flagg is the reason the ceiling has moved. Before the 43 against Indiana he had 25 points and 12 assists in a 130-93 rout of Brooklyn, 29 in a 113-109 win in Miami and 26 in a 120-96 win over Oklahoma City. On some nights he’s running the offense as well as finishing it.
Irving sat out the second game of the first back-to-back of the season, then played 28 minutes against Brooklyn and a season-high 38 against Indiana. Dallas has Friday off before Cleveland, so he shouldn’t be in a rest spot.
Dallas have lost 112-111 in San Antonio and 115-100 at home to Sacramento, and Indiana led by 13 in the first half on Monday behind 26 first-half points from Pascal Siakam. P.J. Washington missed two free throws with four seconds left that could have sealed it.
Away from home they’re 2-2, with wins in Indiana and Miami. Daniel Gafford and Washington have handled the glass, and Caleb Martin made the final defensive play on Monday, tipping away Andrew Nembhard’s pass near the sideline.
Flagg has led the Mavericks in scoring five times and Irving three. The rest of the load has been spread around: Sergio de Larrea scored 21 against San Antonio, Gafford had 20 against Sacramento, and Morez Johnson Jr. pulled down 17 rebounds in the win over Utah.
Probable lineup Cleveland Cavaliers: Not announced at time of publication
Probable lineup Dallas Mavericks: Not announced at time of publication
Free NBA Prediction: Cleveland Cavaliers vs Dallas Mavericks
Our prediction: Dallas Mavericks to win (moneyline)
I’m backing Dallas. Cleveland will be playing its third game in four nights, less than 24 hours after a game in Miami, while the Mavericks get a day off after Minnesota. Flagg and Irving have combined for 78 points in a single game this week, and Cleveland just gave up 124 to the league’s lowest-scoring offense.
The argument against is that the Cavs are 4-2 at home and Mitchell can score 37 on any night. If Tyson returns and Cleveland’s starters get through Miami on light minutes, this gets closer. I still don’t trust a defense allowing 114 a game on tired legs.
We’d only take Dallas at 1.45 or bigger. If the Mavericks are made favorites and the price drops below that, Dallas on the spread is the fallback.
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