Nuggets vs Cavaliers Predictions, Player Props & Odds for Dec. 5

• The NBA-leading Cleveland Cavaliers host the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night
• The Cavaliers are 12-1 at home this season while the Nuggets are just 5-4 on the road
• See the Nuggets vs Cavaliers predictions, player props, and odds for Dec. 5

An intriguing interconference matchup kicks off Thursday night’s NBA slate as Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets (11-8, 5-4 away, 7-11-1 ATS) travel to Ohio to face Donovan Mitchell and the NBA-leading Cleveland Cavaliers (19-3, 12-1 home, 16-6 ATS) at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse at 7:10 pm ET.

Nuggets vs Cavaliers Prediction

• Cavaliers moneyline (-175) at ESPN Bet – 
• Donovan Mitchell under 26.5 points (-125) at DraftKings
  

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The Nuggets have been shockingly inconsistent all season, and especially in the last two weeks. Denver hasn’t won back-to-back games since Nov. 8th and 10th, and has alternated wins and losses over its last eight contests. They needed a miraculous nine-point comeback in the final six minutes against Golden State last time out to emerge with a 119-115 win at home.

Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic was all-world in the victory, dropping 38 points and 10 rebounds to go along with six assists and  five steals.

The Cavaliers’ play has dipped a bit since their stunning 15-0 start, going just 4-3 in their last seven. But that includes a 115-111 win at home over the reigning-champion Boston Celtics on Sunday, spearheaded by a game-high 35 points from Donovan Mitchell (24.3 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 4.1 APG).

Mitchell had just 19 points on 6-of-15 shooting last time out against the Wizards on Tuesday, a lopsided 118-87 Cavaliers victory, and his scoring average of 24.3 PPG is more than two points below his point total for the night.

DEN vs CLE Player Props

NBA player props from DraftKings on Dec. 5. 

Coming off a massive 38-point, 10-rebound, six-assist, five-steal game in the comeback victory against the Warriors, Jokic leads both the point totals (28.5 O/U), rebound totals (11.5 O/U), and assist totals (8.5 O/U) on Thursday night.

Mitchell has the highest point total for the Cavs at 26.5 while Jarrett Allen is the only other player with double-digit rebound total at 10.5.

Best Nuggets vs Cavaliers Odds

The Nuggets/Cavaliers point spread is sitting at 4.5 across the board. The best price on the Cavaliers to cover is currently -106 at FanDuel while a handful of books have Nuggets +4.5 at -110, including ESPN Bet and bet365.

ESPN Bet also has the best moneyline option for the Cavaliers, listing Cleveland -175 to win straight-up. Caesars has the longest odds on a Nuggets victory at +158.

There is a one-point range in the game total at the moment. Most books, including BetMGM, have the total at 234.5 with -110 odds both ways, but FanDuel has it a point lower at 233.5 with -110 odds on each side.

The NBA public betting splits for Thursday heavily lean to the Cavs. Cleveland is getting 72% of moneyline handle and 68% of ATS handle as of 1:10 pm ET. The public was also favoring the over, putting 61% of game-total money on the over so far.