LeBron James faces his former team as the Miami Heat play host to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Can Kyrie Irving and the Cavs stick it to the man who stuck it to Cleveland?
As long as LeBron James plays in the NBA, Miami and Cleveland will
be forever linked as his past and present employers. With time, Cavs fans will
move on from the trade that rocked their world. For now we’re stuck with
another over publicized reunion.
As expected, Miami is a huge sports betting favorite tonight over a Cleveland
team that hasn’t defeated any of the top contenders. Tipoff is set for 7:30 PM
ET at American Airlines Arena in Miami. This matchup will be carried on ESPN. It’s
the opening game of a nationally televised doubleheader.
The NBA odds boards opened with the Miami Heat installed as -12 point favorites with a total of 202. While Dwayne Wade is still doubtful, this should be a game that the Heat will easily win. The only question is if they can cover the NBA betting spread? See how we are placing our NBA picks tonight.
The Miami Heat (11-5 SU, 8-8 ATS) is coming off a lackluster effort on Sunday. They had their
three-game winning streak snapped by the Milwaukee Bucks, who rolled to a 91-82
victory. James had 28 points and 13 rebounds, but Miami finished with season
lows in points, field-goal percentage (37.3), field goals (25) and assists
(nine). The Heat were playing for the second straight night and third time in
four days, but like every other team in the league, they can't use the jam packed
schedule as an excuse.
Dwyane Wade has been out six games with a foot injury (plantar
fasciitis) but LeBron has picked up the offensive slack. He’s averaging 30.8 points on 55.4 percent
shooting during Wade’s absence. Overall James is second in the league in scoring
(29.7 ppg), less than a point behind the Lakers Kobe Bryant (30.5 ppg).
Same old Cavs
Cleveland (6-9 SU, 8-7 ATS) has dropped three straight overall and has lost its last two
games by a combined 66 points. Friday, they were routed by Chicago
114-75, and the next night they were blown out by the Hawks 121-94. Atlanta had
33 fast break points on the night and shot 55 percent, while Chicago had 50
points in the paint and limited the Cavs to 30 percent shooting (27 of 89).
Cleveland’s defense has been sieve like this season ranking 25th
in points allowed (99.0) and 27th in field goal percentage (46.4).
The Cavs defense has been particularly brutal during the current skid allowing
an average of 113.3 points per game on better than 51 percent shooting. James
and Miami took three of four from Cleveland in 2010-11, with the King averaging
27.5 points, 8.3 assists and 8.0 rebounds against his former team.
As good as advertised
Rookie point guard Kyrie Irving, Cleveland’s first No. 1 overall
pick in the draft since selecting James in 2003, has had a solid start to his
pro career. The one and done star from Duke leads the team in scoring (17.4
ppg) field goal percentage (50.0), 3-point shooting (42.5 percent) and assists
(4.9). Antawn Jamison is second in points per game (15.7) while Anderson
Varejao is close to averaging a double-double with 9.7 points and 9.4 rebounds
per game.
Despite Irving’s contributions, the Cavaliers are as bad as
they’ve ever been since LeBron left. Getting off the road might
help. The Cavs have played just five home games this season going 2-3 SU and
ATS) but will have 13 of their next 17 games at home. You can expect them to be
‘dogged’ in a majority of those contests.
Notes on a scorecard
The Heat are in tied for second-place in the Southeast Division
with Orlando. The surprising Hawks lead with a record of 13-5. The Cavs are
third in the Central Division, eight games behind the Chicago Bulls.
Trends
Cleveland is 9-4 ATS in their last 13 road games and 7-2 against
the spread in its last nine matchups against Miami.
The ‘over’ might be worth investigating tonight. The Heat are
12-4-1 to the high side in their last 17 outings and 7-3 to the ‘over’ in their
last 10 overall.
Harvey’s Take: Miami can pretty much name the score tonight with or without
Wade. My NBA pick, though, is going to be on the ‘over’ and don’t be surprised if the
Heat don’t flirt with the 120 number tonight.
Good luck!