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The Cleveland Cavaliers take the league’s worst record to Florida to take on the surging Miami Heat on Friday at the American Airlines Arena. The Cavs a reeling from four consecutive losses while the Heat are coming off a loss that snapped a five game winning streak.
Worst Record In The League
The Cleveland Cavaliers have gone from the best is the East to the team with the worst team in the league. Just last season, the Cavs won the Eastern Conference for the fourth consecutive season. Right now, Cleveland has lost four games in a row, dropped seven out of their last nine outings and are 8-27, owners of the worst record in the NBA.
Cleveland is the third lowest scoring team in the league at 102.3 points per game scored while they give up 111.1 points per game to their opponents, the 18th ranked defense in the NBA this season. The Cavaliers are also 24th in rebounding at 43.6 boards per game while they are in the bottom in passing at only 19.7 assists per game.
Cleveland Cavaliers vs Miami Heat 12/28/18
Moneyline Odds: Cavaliers +405, Heat -500
Odds from betonline.ag as of 12/28/18
Slowly Getting There
The Miami Heat were one of the teams fancied to make the playoffs this season but the Heat a slow start and has had to deal with injuries, the latest of which is Goran Dragic’s knee injury which required surgery and which will sideline the Heat guard for at least eight weeks. But the Heat have fought back and won five straight games before losing by two points to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night.
Miami ranks 7th in the league in scoring defense, allowing their foes to score just 106.3 points per game this season. However, the Heat have had their offensive woes as they are the sixth worst scoring team in the league at only 106.4 points per game. Miami is also ranked just 22nd in assists at 22.9 per game but they are 5th in the entire NBA in rebounding with their 47.6 rebounds per game average.
Who Wins?
The Cavaliers and Heat have met in a total of 108 regular season games with Miami winning 63 of those games and Cleveland taking 45 meetings. Miami has won four out of their last six head to head games including the most recent one- a 98-79 home win last March 27, 2018.
The Cavs are 1-6 SU in their last seven games played and Cleveland is also just 3-16 SU in their last 19 games played on the road. The Heat are 5-1 SU in their last six games played and Miami is 18-6 SU in their last 24 games against the Cleveland. The Heat are also 5-0 SU in their last five home games against the Cavs.
With all due respect to the Cavaliers, I think this is an easy pick to make the Cavaliers have won just thrice on the road this season and with Miami playing well overall lately, things could get ugly for the Cavaliers here. The Heat have won four out of their last six games at home and I think Miami’s balanced scoring is going to be a problem for Cleveland. With Tristan Thompson out, I think Whiteside is going to dominate this game off the glass, giving the Heat more opportunities to score. I’m rolling with the home team here.
We’re picking the Miami Heat to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers on 12/28/18.
Other Bets To Make
Cleveland is 17-18 ATS on the season. The Cavs are 4-2 ATS in their last six road games played. Miami is 5-0 ATS in their last five games played. The Heat are 4-2 ATS in their last six games against the Cavs and are 6-1 ATS in their last seven home games against Cleveland.
Cleveland Cavaliers vs Miami Heat 12/28/18
Spread Odds: Cavaliers +10 (-110), Heat -10 (-110)
Odds from betonline.ag as of 12/28/18
Six out of Cleveland’s last seven losses have been by double digits. Without Tristan Thompson controlling the middle and defending the paint, I think the Cavs are going to have defensive problems here. Miami is not a lights out scoring team but they should have a field day here.
Prediction: Heat -10
The total has gone under in 19 out of the Cavaliers 35 games played this season. The Cavs have seen the under hit 5-1 in their last six road games. The total has gone under in 9 out of Miami’s last 13 games played. The under is 4-1 in the last five games between the Cavs and Heat.
Cleveland Cavaliers vs Miami Heat 12/28/18
Over/Under Odds: Over 201 -110, Under 201 -110
Odds from betonline.ag as of 12/28/18
The trends point to the under here and Miami is an excellent defensive team at #7 in the league. The Cavs are the third lowest scoring team in the NBA right now and are averaging just 95.8 points per game in their last five games. The Heat meanwhile have averaged 100.6 points per game in their last eight games played. It will be close but I think the total here is too low even for these two teams.
Prediction: Over 201
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