Denver Nuggets (11-8, eighth in the Western Conference) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (19-3, first in the Eastern Conference)
Cleveland; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Cleveland and Denver square off in non-conference action.
The Cavaliers are 12-1 in home games. Cleveland ranks ninth in the Eastern Conference in rebounding averaging 43.0 rebounds. Jarrett Allen leads the Cavaliers with 10.3 boards.
The Nuggets have gone 5-4 away from home. Denver averages 13.5 turnovers per game and is 4-3 when turning the ball over less than opponents.
The Cavaliers make 50.9% of their shots from the field this season, which is 4.0 percentage points higher than the Nuggets have allowed to their opponents (46.9%). The Nuggets average 12.3 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.7 fewer made shots on average than the 14.0 per game the Cavaliers give up.
TOP PERFORMERS: Donovan Mitchell is averaging 24.3 points, 4.1 assists and 1.6 steals for the Cavaliers.
Nikola Jokic is averaging 30.1 points, 13 rebounds, 10.4 assists and 1.7 steals for the Nuggets.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cavaliers: 7-3, averaging 121.1 points, 44.9 rebounds, 27.5 assists, 8.3 steals and 4.3 blocks per game while shooting 49.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 112.4 points per game.
Nuggets: 5-5, averaging 115.6 points, 41.4 rebounds, 30.5 assists, 8.2 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 49.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 115.0 points.
INJURIES: Cavaliers: Ty Jerome: day to day (illness), Emoni Bates: out (knee), Max Strus: out (ankle).
Nuggets: DaRon Holmes II: out for season (achilles), Vlatko Cancar: out (knee).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
