Cavaliers Edge Nets 125-121 as Offense Explodes, Burying DarkHorse Under

So much for defensive struggles and offensive dysfunction. The Cavaliers gutted out a 125-121 home win over Brooklyn in a track meet that obliterated DarkHorse's under 231.5 call by 14.5 points. Our desk whiffed spectacularly on this one, banking on both squads continuing their opening-night shooting woes and Brooklyn's plodding pace dragging Cleveland into the mud.

Instead, someone forgot to tell these teams they were supposed to brick jumpers. The 246-point eruption made our "low 220s" projection look like wishful thinking from a different sport entirely. Cleveland's three-point shooting clearly bounced back from that ghastly 24.1% opener, and whatever offensive dysfunction plagued them in game one got sorted out in a hurry. Brooklyn didn't slow anyone down—they came to run, and both teams obliged.

The Cavaliers protected home court despite the Nets hanging around throughout, with the four-point margin suggesting this stayed competitive deep into the fourth. But the real story is offensive regression working exactly backward from our thesis. Shooting variance regressed upward, all right—it just kept climbing past league average and into fireworks territory.

Credit where it's due: Cleveland found their stroke when it mattered. Our pick? Dead on arrival. Sometimes the numbers lie, and tonight they lied beautifully for the over bettors.