The Gold Sheet

THE PLAY: Total Under 231.5 (-110)

This is the first meeting of the year after Cleveland swept the season series each of the last two years. This is the Cavs' first game since Monday, so Cleveland should be well-rested and ready for this trek to Dallas. The Cavs are riding a seven-game win streak (5-2 against the spread), and no one is on the injury report aside from Isaac Okoro, who's missed the last three weeks. Dallas has lost three in a row on the road at Portland, Sacramento and Houston. The Mavs are scoring an average of 107.3 points per game in their last eight contests, and have failed to hit the 100-point mark four times. Maxi Kleber and PJ Washington are both questionable for Dallas. Early money has shown on the over in this contest, but in our opinion, it's gone a little too far. Both teams are top-10 in defensive efficiency. Without Luka Doncic, Dallas knows its best chance for success is to turn these games into a slow grind. The under is 6-2 in Dallas' last eight games, and none of those contests had a total anywhere near the 232 that we're seeing on Thursday in this contest.

THE PLAY: New Orleans Saints +13.5 (-110)

How badly does New Orleans want to play spoiler? On the surface, the answer appears to be "pretty badly." Tampa Bay will clinch the NFC South with a win. The Saints' trio of Derek Carr, Chris Olave and Alvin Kamara all returned to some level of practice last week prior to the game against the Raiders, but none of the three ended up playing. You can certainly understand Carr's desire to play against his former team, but the other two were a little surprising. Running back Keandre Miller suffered a concussion and linebacker Jaylan Ford suffered a broken leg in that loss to the Raiders, further chopping an already-depleted roster. By all indications, Carr, Kamara and Olave are going to practice once again this week, and Olave is petitioning for an opportunity to play even though he still has not been medically cleared from his own concussion. Keep an eye on the status of that trio through out this week. If those three are on track to play, then this number is too high. Tampa Bay has only closed as a favorite of more than a touchdown one time this season: Last week against Carolina. The Bucs closed as a seven-point home favorite against the Raiders four weeks ago. The Raiders just closed a tick above a pick'em in New Orleans last week. So the betting market has already said that there is not much separating the Raiders and Saints. Why is Tampa Bay laying -7 against one and -13.5 against the other?