San Antonio Spurs vs Cleveland Cavaliers Picks and Predictions December 29th

The Cleveland Cavaliers visit the San Antonio Spurs at the Frost Bank Center on Monday, December 29, 2025, with tip-off set for 8:00 PM on NBC. This is the second and final meeting between these teams, and both sides come in irritated for different reasons. Cleveland is 17-16 and has dropped two straight, with Kenny Atkinson questioning effort, which usually means the next game starts with urgency or it starts with tension.

San Antonio is 23-8 and sitting second in the West, but it’s also trying to clean up the details after a loss to Utah snapped a strong run. The Spurs have been the steadier team all season, yet Cleveland’s style can make these games uncomfortable. If the Cavs are hitting threes, you get a tight game late. If they’re sloppy with the ball, it can get away quickly.

Cleveland Cavaliers vs San Antonio Spurs Odds

These are the current betting lines, and bettors should always monitor movement and updated numbers on the latest NBA odds.

Team	Moneyline	Spread	Total
Cleveland Cavaliers	+154	+4.5 (-111)	O 240.5
San Antonio Spurs	-185	-4.5 (-111)	U 240.5

Cleveland Cavaliers Betting Form

Cleveland’s offense is still strong on paper even with the recent slide. They’re scoring 119.5 points per game and they lean heavily on the three, ranking third in made threes at 15.2 per game. When that shot profile is working, they can cover spreads without needing a perfect night at the rim. It’s kind of the whole bet with them. You’re backing volume threes and hoping the ugly stretches don’t stack up.

The issue lately has been the “how” in losses. In the 117-100 loss to Houston, the Cavs never really got comfortable, and the game drifted into bad possessions and rushed shots. Jaylon Tyson’s 23 points and 15 rebounds popped, and Donovan Mitchell still gives them a baseline of creation, but the margins shrink fast on the road when turnovers turn into runouts. For recent results, splits, and market performance, the Cleveland Cavaliers stats and results page is the cleanest snapshot.

Availability matters here, so monitor the Cleveland Cavaliers injury report before tipoff.

Player	Status	Notes
Max Strus	Out	Foot (surgery)
Larry Nance Jr.	Out	Calf strain
Chris Livingston	Out	Two-way / roster designation
Luke Travers	Out	Two-way / roster designation

San Antonio Spurs Betting Form

San Antonio has been the more reliable team all season, and the numbers back it up. They score 120.1 points per game, shoot 48.5% from the field, and they rebound at a top-tier level at 46.0 per game. That mix usually wins the possession battle, and when you’re winning possessions, you can survive a cold perimeter stretch without it turning into a crisis.

The Spurs’ loss to Utah doesn’t change the bigger picture, but it does highlight the one thing I watch with them: ball-handling stability. When the Spurs are clean, they get good shots early in the clock and their efficiency stays high. When they get loose, the game speeds up and their defense has to scramble more than it wants. That’s where totals get spicy, and it’s where an underdog can hang around longer than expected. For logs, splits, and recent form, the San Antonio Spurs schedule and stats page is the fastest check.

Availability matters here too, so keep an eye on the San Antonio Spurs injury report leading into tipoff.

Player	Status	Notes
De’Aaron Fox	Questionable	Adductor tightness / illness tag
Harrison Ingram	Out	Two-way / roster designation
David Jones Garcia	Questionable	Two-way / roster designation
Stanley Umude	Out	Two-way / roster designation

Cleveland Cavaliers vs San Antonio Spurs Matchup Breakdown

This matchup is basically three-point math versus efficiency and rebounding. Cleveland wants to space you out, take a ton of threes, and turn the game into a make-miss equation. San Antonio wants to score efficiently inside the arc, dominate the glass, and keep Cleveland from getting multiple attempts on the same possession. If the Spurs are cleaning the defensive boards, Cleveland has to shoot well to cover. If the Cavs are generating extra possessions with steals and long rebounds, now the spread gets tight.

The key swing is turnovers. Cleveland can be aggressive and disruptive, but they also have stretches where the offense gets careless, and San Antonio is good enough to punish that with quick points. The other swing is Fox. If he plays and looks close to normal, the Spurs’ late-game offense is cleaner, and their ability to separate late goes up. If he’s limited or out, Cleveland’s +4.5 becomes more attractive because the Spurs can get a little more static in the half court.

If you want a deeper framework for how pace, shot profile, and possession edges translate into side and total value, the NBA betting guide is worth reading. This is one of those games where the right bet is less about “who’s better” and more about which style is likely to win the possession battle.

Cleveland Cavaliers vs San Antonio Spurs Predictions and Best Bets

My lean is Cleveland +4.5. I don’t love the recent effort comments, but sometimes that’s exactly the kind of spot where a team responds early, and Cleveland’s offense is built to keep games close if the threes are falling at even a decent clip. The model projection you’re working with has San Antonio winning by two, and that’s about how this feels if it stays competitive.

San Antonio has the cleaner baseline profile, and I get why they’re favored. They’re more efficient, they rebound, and they’re not as dependent on one shot type. But that’s also why the number matters. At -4.5, you’re asking the Spurs to create separation, not just win. Against a high-variance three-point team, that can get uncomfortable, especially if Fox is anything less than full go.

On the total, 240.5 is massive. Both teams can score, but this number needs a clean game. If Cleveland’s offense has a few empty stretches, or if the Spurs control tempo through half-court efficiency instead of pure pace, the under starts to look live. Late fouling is always the risk in a spread range like this, so I’m not pretending it’s safe. It’s just a big number that leaves less margin than it looks like.

Best Bet: Cleveland Cavaliers +4.5 (-111).

NBA Picks and Handicappers on ScoresAndStats

The NBA season is a volume sport for bettors. The edge is often in price discipline and consistently attacking the right profiles, not just picking winners. The today’s NBA picks page is built for that, especially when you’re trying to compare multiple games and find the numbers that are off by a point or two.

It also helps to have quick access to team context when lines move late, whether that’s form, splits, or matchup trends. The NBA team pages hub makes it easy to bounce between teams without losing the thread of what’s actually changing.

And if you’re thinking bigger than one game, futures markets can create value windows when the market overreacts to a week of results or one availability headline. Keeping tabs on NBA championship odds and predictions can help you spot those moments before the price is gone.