Not much is expected of Cleveland without LeBron James. The Cavaliers have lived up to those low expectations in their first two games going 0-2. Their losses came to the Raptors and Timberwolves - both on the road.

The Cavaliers do have some prideful veterans, though, who want to prove they still can be competitive without James.

So expect a strong effort from Cleveland in its home opener. The Cavaliers draw the Hawks, who just may be the worst team in the NBA. Atlanta is 0-2 suffering blowout losses to the Knicks (126-107) and to the Grizzlies (131-117). Those two teams are worse than the Raptors and Timberwolves.

The Hawks committed an average of 21 1/2 turnovers in those two games and are playing for the third time in five days.

There aren't going to be many times I'll be willing to lay mid-size points with the Cavaliers. This is one of those times, though.