**Play our new weekly NBA in-app contest for a chance to win $400 in Amazon gift cards!**

Prizes:

1st Place: $50 Amazon gift card

2nd Place: $20 Amazon gift card

3rd-5th Place: $10 Amazon gift card

Top 5 winners

1. jackski***@yahoo.com (500 PTS)
2. Dante Thomas (350 PTS)
3. jmhem***@gmail.com (350 PTS)
4. ohbigwo***@gmail.com (334 PTS)
5. Kenneth Tom (329 PTS)

Overview:

On Tuesday, January 23^rd, the (27-18) Cleveland Cavaliers will be on the road to take on the (30-17) San Antonio Spurs.

The Crowd:  

“The Crowd” is projecting a final score of Spurs 105.9 – Cavaliers 104.6 with an over/under of 210.5.

Statistics (2017-18 season):

Point differential: Spurs +3.3 (7^th) > Cavaliers +0.2 (14^th)

Points per game: Cavaliers 109.7 (5^th) > Spurs 100.9 (28^th)

Points allowed per game: Spurs 97.6 (1^st) > Cavaliers 109.5 (26^th)

Field Goal Percentage Offense: Cavaliers 47.2% (6^th) > Spurs 45.5% (17^th)

Three Point Percentage: Spurs 36.9% (7^th) > Cavaliers 36.5% (14^th)

Field Goal Percentage Defense: Spurs 44.7% (10^th) > Cavaliers 47.4% (28^th)

Turnovers committed per game: Spurs 13.4 (9^th) > Cavaliers 13.9 (14^th)

Turnovers forced per game: Spurs 13.6 (21^st) > Cavaliers 13.3 (25^th)

Rebounds per game: Spurs 44.4 (11^th) > Cavaliers 41.6 (24^th)

Assists per game: Cavaliers 23.5 (7^th) > Spurs 22.0 (20^th)

Summary:

Cleveland is fresh off an embarrassing 148-124 home loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.  Cleveland’s defense has gone from bad to awful allowing 116.9 PPG over their last ten games.  The Cavaliers are just (3-5) since Isaiah Thomas returned from injury.  Thomas is averaging 16.1 PPG but is shooting just 39.6% from the field and has been a complete liability on the defensive end.  Lebron James (26.8 PPG, 7.8 RPG, and 8.7 APG) is enjoying one of the best seasons of his career while Kevin Love (18.6 PPG and 9.4 RPG) has maintained his all-star form.  J.R. Smith and Tristan Thompson are having miserable campaigns and no longer appear to be fits on the roster.  Dwyane Wade has led a second unit that ranks 4^th in the NBA in bench scoring (41.1 PPG).  The Cavaliers average 109.7 points per game (5^th) while allowing 109.5 (26^th).

San Antonio has the third best record in the Western Conference (30-17) despite Kawhi Leonard playing in only nine games.  This is perhaps the best coaching job Gregg Popovich has done with Leonard and Tony Parker having minimal impact.  LaMarcus Aldridge (22.6 PPG and 8.7 RPG) has been a monster this season as San Antonio’s number one scoring option.  The Spurs struggle to score the ball but they are the best defensive team in the league.  San Antonio’s bench ranks 7^th in scoring (39.9 PPG).  The Spurs average 100.9 points per game (28^th) and allow 97.6 PPG (1^st).

Bottom Line:

San Antonio has the NBA’s best home record at (19-2) while the Cavaliers are just (11-12) on the road.  Cleveland’s defense has been so dismal lately that opponents are routinely scoring over 120 points per game against them.  The Cavaliers have struggled to integrate Isaiah Thomas on both ends and lately it seems like they need Lebron James to be great just to win a game.  San Antonio’s offense is limited with Kawhi Leonard’s injury but they should be able to score at will because the Cavaliers have no rim protection or strong perimeter defenders.  This looks like it could be another blowout loss for the Cavaliers who are facing the NBA’s number one defensive team.

Contest Rules:

To be eligible to win a prize in any contest at The Crowd’s Line, you must be at least 18 years old and a resident of the United States or Canada. You must also submit your score prediction on our official prediction tool (blog widget), and include a valid email address. Contest winners are determined according to The Crowd’s Line scoring methodology. If more than one entrant has the same winning score, final contest rankings and prize winners are selected by random draw. Only one entry per person is allowed for each contest; multiple entries from a single player will be deemed invalid. There are no prize substitutions or exchanges available from The Crowd’s Line.

All prizes will be sent by e-mail within two weeks after the conclusion of each contest.