Yes, the long-awaited reunion is finally upon us. Cleveland
fans have been banned from wearing obscene clothing or bringing offensive
signs, but you better believe there will be a crazy atmosphere for Thursday's
game between the Cavaliers and the Heat. We cut the hype and bring you odds and pick.
Cleveland was probably guilty of looking ahead to the
much-anticipated return of LeBron James when they hosted the Boston Celtics on
Tuesday night.
The Eastern Conference champs took advantage, building up a
strong halftime lead and never looking back in a 106-87 win over the Cavaliers.
Anderson Varejao led Cleveland Cavaliers with 16 points and 12 rebounds
while Anthony Parker and Mo Williams both chipped in 13 points in the defeat.
Unless you've been living under a rock, you'd know that the
Heat have been a massive disappointment thus far this season.
Miami had lost four of five before a 105-94 victory over the
Washington Wizards.
LeBron was much more aggressive on offense, scoring a
game-high 30 points while also picking up six rebounds and five assists. Dwyane
Wade had 26 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals in the win.
Heat favored on road vs. Cleveland
You would be rolling in dough if you had decided to fade
Miami Heat all season long.
The Heat have been miserable versus the spread, going 5-13
ATS overall and failing to cover in their last seven contests.
Cleveland hasn't fared any better as of late, covering in
only two of their previous six games.
The Cavaliers (8-9 ATS) are 2-5 against the number in their
last seven matchups with Eastern Conference teams and 1-7 ATS in their previous
eight versus Southeast Division squads.
Regarding the total, the UNDER has gone 4-0-1 in the last
five meetings in Cleveland between these two teams. Of course, you can always
find more live NBA odds and trends over at SBRlines.com.
Cavs to keep Miami's struggles alive?
The Heat are 0-4 ATS in the team's last four road games and
you know that Quicken Loans Arena will be absolutely rocking on Thursday.
With Miami's incredibly poor play versus the spread in mind,
I think it's wise to keep riding that train until it derails.
Still, this is a tough game to cap as there are so many
emotional factors here on both sides. Will the crowd get to LeBron and slow him
down, or push him to have a career night? Knowing how important this game is,
will the Cavaliers rise to the occasion or fail under pressure?
Cavaliers fan will be insanely hyped-up for this game and
the Heat will need to get in a rhythm early and control play if they want to
suck the energy out of the crowd.
Can they do it? We'll find out on Thursday, but I'd be
slightly mad to back Miami in this spot given how poor they've been playing.
I'll take the points and side with the home team.
FREE NBA Pick: Cavaliers and UNDER