The Cleveland Cavaliers surely didn’t expect to win 70 games this season because, well, it would be irresponsible for any team to enter a season expecting to do so. Yet as recently as Sunday morning, Cleveland had a fair shot at doing so. Entering Sunday’s matchup with the Orlando Magic at 56-10 and riding a 16-game winning streak, the Cavaliers had an outside shot at reaching that historic milestone. All they needed to do was finish the year at 14-2, and with multiple 15-game streaks under their belt, that was attainable.
Winnable games against depleted opponents like the Magic were a catalyst for their pursuit. With a relatively easy schedule, Cleveland had a clear path. Instead, Orlando stunned the Cavaliers with a 13-point halftime comeback to end their 16-game winning streak Sunday and likely put an end to any hope they might have had for 70 wins.
Mathematically, of course, it’s still in play. The Cavaliers need to win 14 games and have 15 left. But there’s no inherent advantage to winning 70 games. The only real goal is ensuring home-court advantage over the Thunder in a possible NBA Finals matchup. Oklahoma City currently sits at 12 losses, so Cleveland is incentivized to keep winning. However, Cleveland has a major advantage in the conference record tiebreaker, so it functionally holds a two-game lead. Assuming the Thunder lose another game or two at least, Cleveland will be able to clinch the league’s best record without pushing for 70 wins.
Without that need, Cleveland has no real reason to go all out for the highest possible win total. The priority, it seems, is to ensure proper health going into the playoffs. Evan Mobley missed Sunday’s game. Donovan Mitchell missed the two games prior, and role players are in and out of the lineup. Health, not win total, is what matters here. It’s hard to go 14-1 across any stretch without trying. That the Cavaliers close their season with two of their final three games against a Pacers team that may be playing for seeding will make it that much harder.
Still, it’s not as though the Cavaliers needed a 70th win to validate the remarkable season they’ve had. They’ve already done more than enough to call this the best regular season in franchise history. Even with this streak snapped, they’ll end the season with separate winning streaks of 16, 15 and 12 games. That’s 43 combined games across three streaks that represent more than half of the season.
The bigger goal, of course, comes in the playoffs. The job isn’t to win 70 games from October through April. It’s to win 16 from April to June. That pursuit begins next month, and no matter how many games they win between now and then, the Cavaliers are in great to shape to chase the victories that actually matter.
Dallas Mavericks fans are still in mourning (well, sports mourning, anyway) over the already infamous trade that sent franchise cornerstone Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers for a package centered around Anthony Davis. Things went downhill for Dallas immediately after the deal, as Davis was injured in his first game and has yet to return, while star guard Kyrie Irving was lost for the season due to a torn ACL in early March.
As a result, the Mavericks have absolutely cratered, going 1-6 since Irving’s injury and falling from No. 8 to No. 10 in the Western Conference standings since the trade deadline.
The main culprit in the eyes of Mavericks fans has been general manager Nico Harrison, who took full responsibility for the trade that most experts still struggle to comprehend on any level. Since the deal was announced, Mavericks fans have made “fire Nico” a common refrain, even leading to one fan being removed from a February game after mouthing the words on the jumbotron.
The situation has clearly frustrated Mavericks forward P.J. Washington, who confronted a fan that shouted “fire Nico” twice while he was at the free-throw line during Dallas’ 130-125 home loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday. Mavs forward Naji Marshall reportedly spoke to the fan after the first time he shouted it and then, after the fan repeated it, Washington yelled, “Shut yo ass up” before taking his second free throw.
Washington discussed the situation after the game, explaining why he no longer wants to hear “fire Nico” from Mavericks fans.
“At the end of the day, trades happen. We understand we have a new team now,” Washington said. “All that ‘fire Nico’ stuff, we’re sick and tired of hearing it. We just want to go out there and play, and we want the fans to support us no matter who’s on the floor. That’s just how I feel about it.”
Mavericks guard Max Christie, who came over from the Lakers in the Dončić trade, also responded to the chants.
“Definitely not pleasant to hear, but I can’t really comment much on that to be honest,” Christie said. “We get paid a lot of money just to play basketball, so for us, we have little things like that that may be distracting and what not — it shouldn’t affect us. We’re professionals. We’re the best at what we do in this sport. Distractions are gonna be there, and we gotta be able to move forward and move past them and not let those affect us.”
Christie’s sentiment is one you generally hear from players, saying that fan behavior shouldn’t have any bearing on their performance. But to Washington’s point, it has to get extremely old hearing your own fans continually complain about something that happened over a month ago while the players are out there doing their best to try to win games and put an entertaining product on the floor.
Unfortunately for Washington and any other players who may be annoyed, it’s likely not going to stop either until the Mavericks start winning again or they do, in fact, decide to fire Nico. And things may intensify the closer we get to Dončić’s return to Dallas on April 9.
The Denver Nuggets (42-25) travel to play the Golden State Warriors (39-28) in a Western Conference matchup on Monday evening. The Nuggets dropped two of their last three outings. The Washington Wizards defeated Denver 126-123 Saturday on a game-winning 3-pointer by Jordan Poole. Meanwhile, the Warriors have strung along a seven-game win streak. Golden State took down the New York Knicks 97-94 on Saturday. Nikola Jokic (elbow/ankle) and Jamal Murray (ankle) are questionable for Denver, while Steph Curry (back) is questionable for Golden State.
Tipoff from Chase Center in San Francisco is at 10 p.m. ET. The teams have met once this season, with Denver securing a 119-115 on Dec. 3. The Warriors are 5-point favorites in the latest Nuggets vs. Warriors odds from SportsLine consensus, while the over/under for total points scored is 236.5. Before locking in any Warriors vs. Nuggets picks, make sure to check out the NBA predictions and betting advice from the SportsLine Projection Model.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in betting profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past six-plus seasons. The model enters Week 21 of the 2024-25 NBA season on a sizzling 148-107 roll on all top-rated NBA picks dating back to last season, returning nearly $4,000. It’s also an outstanding 19-10 (65%) on top-rated spread picks this season. Anyone following at sportsbooks and on betting apps could have seen huge returns.
Now, the model has simulated Nuggets vs. Warriors 10,000 times and just revealed its coveted NBA picks and betting predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see the model’s picks. Here are several NBA odds and NBA betting lines for Nuggets vs. Warriors:
Nuggets vs. Warriors spread: Golden State -5 Nuggets vs. Warriors over/under: 236.5 points Nuggets vs. Warriors money line: Denver -201, Los Angeles +167 GS: Warriors are 34-31-2 against the spread this season DEN: Nuggets are 32-35-1 against the spread this season Nuggets vs. Warriors picks: See picks at SportsLine Nuggets vs. Warriors streaming: FuboTV (Try for free) fanduel logo rectangle Bet $5 Get $200 in Bonus Bets if Your Bet Wins Claim bonus 21+ (18+ D.C.) and present in AZ, CO, CT, DC, IA, IL IN, KS (in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino), KY, LA (excluding certain perishes), MA, MD, MI, NC, NJ, NY, OH, PA, TN, VA, VT, WV, or WY. Void where prohibited. First online real money wager only. $5 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Data & text rates may apply. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit RG-help.com. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT). Hope is here. GamblingHelpLineMA.org or call (800) 327-5050 for 24/7 support (MA). Visit www.mdgamblinghelp.org (MD). Call 1-877-8HOPE-NY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY).21+ (18+ D.C.) and present in AZ, CO, CT, DC, IA, IL IN, KS (in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino), KY, LA (excluding certain perishes), MA, MD, MI, NC, NJ, NY, OH, PA, TN, VA, VT, WV, or WY. Void where prohibited. First online real money wager only. $5 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Data & text rates may apply. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit RG-help.com. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT). Hope is here. GamblingHelpLineMA.org or call (800) 327-5050 for 24/7 support (MA). Visit www.mdgamblinghelp.org (MD). Call 1-877-8HOPE-NY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY).21+ (18+ D.C.) and present in AZ, CO, CT, DC, IA, IL IN, KS (in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino), KY, LA (excluding certain perishes), MA, MD, MI, NC, NJ, NY, OH, PA, TN, VA, VT, WV, or WY. Void where prohibited. First online real money wager only. $5 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Data & text rates may apply. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit RG-help.com. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT). Hope is here. GamblingHelpLineMA.org or call (800) 327-5050 for 24/7 support (MA). Visit www.mdgamblinghelp.org (MD). Call 1-877-8HOPE-NY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY). Why the Warriors can cover Curry, if he’s able to go, continues to be the engine of this group, using his vision as a passer and a soft touch on his jumpers. He leads the team in both points (24.3) and assists (6.1), while shooting 39.6% from beyond the arc. In his last outing, Curry racked up 28 points, seven rebounds, five assists and made four 3-pointers. He’s knocked down 4-plus 3-pointers in five of his last six games.
Forward Jimmy Butler has made a serious impact since landing on the Warriors. Golden State is 14-1 when he plays. This season, Butler is averaging 16.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game. He’s recorded double-digit points and 4-plus assists in six of his last seven games. On March 10 against the Trail Blazers, Butler had 15 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. See which team to back at SportsLine.
Tomorrow Denver Golden St. +4.5 -110 -4.5 -110 +152 -183 O236.5 -110 U236.5 -110 Click here to get half-off your first month, quarter, or year of sports picks! Start winning now! Why the Nuggets can cover Denver has some important injuries to monitor, but the Nuggets are tough to beat when healthy. Jokic continues to put his fingerprint all over the game. He’s an MVP candidate again, ranking third in the NBA in points (29.1) and rebounds (12.8) while being second in assists (10.3). The 30-year-old has scored more than 30 points and 8-plus rebounds in three of his last four games. In Saturday’s loss to the Wizards, Jokic had 40 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists.
Murray is another shot creator for Denver. He logs 21.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game. On Friday against the Lakers, Murray finished with 26 points, four rebounds and five dimes. The Kentucky product had 24-plus points in three of his last four matchups. See which team to back at SportsLine.
How to make Nuggets vs. Warriors picks SportsLine’s model has simulated Warriors vs. Nuggets and is leaning Under the total, projecting 227 combined points. The model also says one side of the spread hits in nearly 60% of simulations. You can head to SportsLine to see the model’s NBA picks.
So who wins Nuggets vs. Warriors on Monday, and which side of the spread hits in nearly 60% of simulations? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Nuggets vs. Warriors spread to back, all from the model that has returned well over $10,000 on top-rated NBA picks, and find out.
