The recently-sputtering Magic put the Cavs' 15-game win streak to the sword on Sunday, but note that Cleveland has been looking a bit flat much of the past two weeks, as the Cavs had a few unexpected close calls while covering just two of their last six games. Key cog Evan Mobley (foot) also missed the Orlando loss and is iffy for tonight at the Intuit Dome. Meanwhile, the Clippers are healthy, have won three straight and six of seven, and are off off two resounding wins over the Hornets and Hawks as James Harden continues his blistering March form, scoring 27.2 pg this month and off of 31 in the Charlotte blowout Sunday night. Play Clippers

One of the toughest things to do is recover after a long winning streak is ended. The Cleveland Cavaliers won sixteen games in a row, but had that ended by the Orlando Magic 108-103. Now they travel on the road for a West coast night game against the LA Clippers, which is the first of five road games. Cavaliers may win but grab the Clippers to keep this within a possession and cover the number.

Even in a rough defeat to Orlando, Strus was a + player and put in a solid shift. Teams have to respect the length and driving ability of this starting 5 and he understands the spacing of where to be for easy looks. He's averaging 2.5/6 from 3 over last 15 games and 10 PPG. He is over this total in 9 of last 11 games and has at least 2 three-pointers in 8 of last 11 games (that gets us almost home). Last year in two games vs Clippers he was one of Cavs' most efficient players and went 17-5.5-6.5. Perhaps his minutes even tick a little closer to 30 tonight. The Cavs don't lost 2 in a row very often.

Norman Powell scored just seven points against the Hornets on Sunday in his return from a hamstring injury. He only played 23 minutes in the lopsided win for the Clippers and he shot just 3-for-13 from the field. This should be a closer game against the Cavaliers. He is averaging 23.4 points per game for the season and shooting 50.1% from the field at home. We’re getting a discount here because of the potential for him to play limited minutes, but I think he plays close to 30 minutes in a close game, so I’ll take the over.

This is a big number for the Clipper big man Ivica Zubac who averages 16.2 PPG, however that number doesnt tell the whole story and is a bit inflated as a result of LA being short handed a lot this season. When the Clippers are at full strength Zubac is at best the fourth option on a team with three high volume scorers in Norman Powell, Kawhi Leonard, and James Harden. I would also consider this a difficult matchup against a very good Cavs defense that surrenders the 6th fewest points to opposing Centers over their last 15 games. Lastly, Zubac has struggled throughout his career versus Jarrett Allen having never topped 14 points and averaging just 8.6 PPG in their last six H2H matchups.

Cavs will most likely cover this with room to spare but I'm going conservative here. Cavs are 22-10 ATS on the road and 15-5-1 ATS vs the West and they will be up for this after letting their 16-game winning streak die vs the Magic, blowing several leads along the way. Clippers might look better lately but peep the pathetic opponents. they are just 8-7 SU last 15 games and seem to be fading like last year. Clippers 5-10 ATS last 15. Struggling to score again, and their defense will be tested by Cavs shot-makers. Donovan Mitchell should be better in this one coming back from injury.