Halftime Report
After a tough loss on the road their last time out, the Cavaliers look much better today on their home court. Sitting on a score of 54-50, they have looked like the better team, but there’s still two more quarters to play.
The Cavaliers came into the matchup with some extra motivation after the loss they were dealt the last time these two teams faced off. We’ll see if they’re able to flip the script or if it’ll just be more of the same.
Who’s Playing
Minnesota Timberwolves @ Cleveland Cavaliers
Current Records: Minnesota 44-19, Cleveland 40-22
How To Watch
- When: Friday, March 8, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. ET
- Where: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse — Cleveland, Ohio
- TV: ESPN
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online streaming: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket Cost: $34.63
What to Know
Having just played yesterday, the Minnesota Timberwolves will head out on the road to face off against the Cleveland Cavaliers at 7:30 p.m. ET on March 8th at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The Cavaliers are favored, but seeing as the odds didn’t stop the Timberwolves in their last game, maybe the squad has another upset up their sleeve.
On Thursday, it was close, but Minnesota sidestepped the Pacers for a 113-111 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Timberwolves.
Anthony Edwards was a one-man wrecking crew for the Timberwolves as he scored 44 points along with six rebounds and two steals. Edwards didn’t help the Timberwolves’ cause all that much against the Trail Blazers on Monday but the same can’t be said for this contest. The team also got some help courtesy of Rudy Gobert, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 14 rebounds.
Meanwhile, it’s hard to win when your three-point shooting is a whole 14% worse than the opposition, a fact the Cavaliers found out the hard way on Wednesday. They took a 112-101 hit to the loss column at the hands of Atlanta.
Jarrett Allen put forth a good effort for the losing side as he dropped a double-double on 18 points and 19 rebounds. Less helpful for the Cavaliers was Sam Merrill’s abysmal 0-9 three-point shooting.
Minnesota is on a roll lately: they’ve won nine of their last 12 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 44-19 record this season. As for Cleveland, their loss dropped their record down to 40-22.
Friday’s matchup is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: The Timberwolves haven’t given up the ball easily this season, having only averaged 13.8 turnovers per game. However, it’s not like the Cavaliers struggle in that department as they’ve been averaging only 12.7 turnovers per game. Given these competing strengths, it’ll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
The Timberwolves were able to grind out a solid win over the Cavaliers in their previous matchup back in January of 2023, winning 110-102. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Timberwolves since the team won’t have the home-court advantage this time around. We’ll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Odds
Cleveland is a slight 1.5-point favorite against Minnesota, according to the latest NBA odds.
The line on this game has moved a bit since it opened, as it started out with the Timberwolves as a 1-point favorite.
The oddsmakers are predicting a defensive showdown and set the over/under low at 207.5 points.
See NBA picks for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine’s advanced computer model. Get picks now.
Series History
Minnesota has won 7 out of their last 10 games against Cleveland.
- Jan 14, 2023 – Minnesota 110 vs. Cleveland 102
- Nov 13, 2022 – Minnesota 129 vs. Cleveland 124
- Feb 28, 2022 – Minnesota 127 vs. Cleveland 122
- Dec 10, 2021 – Cleveland 123 vs. Minnesota 106
- Feb 01, 2021 – Cleveland 100 vs. Minnesota 98
- Jan 31, 2021 – Minnesota 109 vs. Cleveland 104
- Jan 05, 2020 – Minnesota 118 vs. Cleveland 103
- Dec 28, 2019 – Cleveland 94 vs. Minnesota 88
- Nov 26, 2018 – Minnesota 102 vs. Cleveland 95
- Oct 19, 2018 – Minnesota 131 vs. Cleveland 123
