Denver Nuggets vs Cleveland Cavaliers Prediction, 1/2/2026 Preview and Pick

Game: Denver Nuggets vs Cleveland Cavaliers

Date: Friday, January 2, 2026

Location: Rocket Arena in Cleveland, OH

TV: FanDuel Sports Network

The Cleveland Cavaliers (17-16) will try to defeat the Denver Nuggets (22-9) at Rocket Arena on Friday.

The Nuggets played the Magic and took a loss by a final of 127-126 in their last game. When talking about personal fouls, the Nuggets left the arena with 23 while the Magic accumulated 25 personal fouls. They made 10 out of their 29 shots from three-point range. Orlando finished the game at 67.6% from the free throw line by knocking down 25 of 37 tries. Additionally, Orlando pulled down 35 rebounds (9 offensive, 26 defensive) and added 3 blocks. Orlando totaled 32 assists and had 8 steals for this game. When discussing defense, Denver allowed their opponent to shoot 51.7% from the floor on 46 out of 89 shooting. They also dished out 27 assists in the matchup as well as forcing the other team into 6 turnovers and earning 5 steals. In terms of getting rebounds, they earned 49 with 15 of them being offensive. When they shot from the free throw line, the Nuggets knocked down 27 of 30 shots for a rate of 90.0%. Denver finished the game with a 51.2% field goal percentage (44 out of 86) and buried 11 of 29 3-point attempts.

Nikola Jokic is someone who was important for the contest. Jokic finished the contest at 50.0% from the floor and also totaled 12 assists. He played 38 minutes and totaled 21 rebounds. He ended up walking away with 34 points on 11 out of 22 shooting.

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Denver comes into this matchup with a win-loss mark of 22-9 for the campaign. They currently have an average of 125.8 points per game (1st in the league) while going 51.3% from the field. The Nuggets are hitting 40.7% on shots from distance (438 of 1,076) and 82.7% from the free throw line. As a unit, Denver is grabbing 44.3 rebounds per game and is sitting with 922 dimes this year, which is 5th in basketball in terms of passing. They turn it over 13.5 times per contest and as a unit they are committing 19.4 fouls every game.

Defensively, the Nuggets are forcing their opponents into 12.5 turnovers per game while drawing 21.8 fouls. They currently rank 18th in the league in allowing assists to the opposition with 846 surrendered on the year. The Nuggets defensively are allowing a shooting percentage of 47.2% (1,329 of 2,814) and they concede 41.1 rebounds per game as a unit. They are relinquishing 34.7% on shots from distance and they rank 20th in basketball in opponents points per game (117.5).

For their last game, the Cavaliers walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 117-100 against the Rockets. When discussing rebounds, Cleveland allowed Houston to grab 51 overall (18 offensive). They finished shooting 45.7% from downtown by going 16 out of 35 and finished the contest at 15 of 21 from the free throw line (71.4%). The Cavaliers permitted the Rockets to make 43 of their 88 tries from the floor which gave them a percentage of 48.9% for this game. When the final whistle blew, the Cavaliers shot 41 for 96 from the floor which gave them a rate of 42.7%. When it comes to 3-point attempts, Cleveland made 11 out of their 36 attempts (30.6%). They were able to bury 7 of the free throws for a clip of 63.6%. The Rockets committed 14 fouls for the contest which got the Cavaliers to the free throw line for 11 shots. They also coughed up the ball 15 times, while getting 10 steals for this game. The Cavaliers snagged 27 defensive rebounds and 15 offensive boards for a total of 42 for the matchup.

Jaylon Tyson ended up being a factor for the Cavaliers for this contest. Tyson had 23 points in his 30 minutes on the court, but wasn't able to get an assist. He buried 10 of 20 for the contest for a field goal rate of 50.0%, and earned 15 rebounds.

Cleveland has a record of 17-16 this year. The Cavaliers have committed 21.1 personal fouls per game while shooting 78.0% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 27.6 times per contest (9th in the NBA) and they lose possession via turnover 13.9 times per game. Cleveland has totaled 3,945 pts this season (119.5 per game) and they grab 44.4 rebounds per game. In terms of offensive execution, the Cavaliers are hitting on 46.4% from the floor, which ranks 19th in basketball.

The Cleveland defense allows 38.0% from downtown (456 of 1,201) and their opponents are connecting on 79.3% of their free throw attempts. They relinquish 27.3 assists and 45.3 total rebounds per game, which has them ranked 19th and 20th in the league. The Cavaliers on the defensive end are ranked 21st in the NBA in points allowed per contest with 117.8. They are able to force 16.2 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 46.8% from the field (14th in basketball).

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Denver

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