The upstart Cleveland Cavaliers will face the veteran Phoenix Suns on Monday night inside the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. 

Bookmaker has installed the Cavaliers as a slim - 1 1/2 point favorite in this clash. 

It has been a fun season for the young Cavaliers, and they are really starting to believe they have the talent and makeup to make a deep run into a stacked Eastern Conference. Only a couple of seasons ago, they were in a total rebuild, and now they are inching closer to locking down a solid playoff spot. 

They have won five of seven entering Sunday night's game against the lowly Brooklyn Nets. The Cavaliers are in second place in the Eastern Conference standings. 

They have a nice balanced attack and several players who can score over 20 points a night. They do a great job of getting everyone involved. Veteran Donovan Mitchell is having a fine season, netting close to 28 points a game, while Darius Garland is adding 18 points per game to go along with 6.3 assists per contest.

Cleveland is one of the league's better shooting teams; they connect on close to 51% from the floor, including 37% from beyond the arc. They have also cut down their turnovers and are playing smarter basketball on both ends of the floor. They will look to get their perimeter shooters involved in this one. 

The Suns are such a tough team to figure out. They had high expectations coming into the season, and many betting pundits believed in them and even picked them to go out of the Western Conference. They are a deep team and a talented team with veterans on the roster, but for some reason, they can never seem to just get over the hump and win it all with this collection of players. 

The pressure is on them this season to finally put it all together, or we might seem like a different team going forward. On offense, they are paced by veteran Kevin Durant, who has had a solid season. He is still a threat to take over games, but they need more help than Durant, night in and night out. 

Durant has had some nice games this season, and if the Suns can put it together collectively as a unit, they can make a run here. They would love to get Devin Booker back, but he is iffy for Monday's game. He missed Saturday's game against the Boston Celtics due to an ankle injury. 

The Cavaliers are 3-2 in their last five games and 3-2 in their previous five games against the number. They are also 15-14 in their road games against the spread. The totals have gone over in one of their last five games. The Suns are 2-3 in their last five games and 1-4 in their previous five games against the spread. They are also 14-15 in their road games against the number. The totals have gone over in none of their last five games. The totals have gone over in 16 out of their last 35 games at home.