NBA Free Pick – Thursday, December 2, 2010
 |
vs.
|
 |
Miami Heat (10-8) at Cleveland Cavaliers (7-10),
Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 8:00 pm EST on TNT
Click Here for more Free Expert NBA Basketball Picks
The Miami Heat, the third-place team in the Eastern Conference’s Southeast Division, travel to Quicken Loans Arena to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers, the third place team in the Eastern Conference’s Central Division. And there’s this one guy who plays for the Heat that used to play for the Cavs.
This is the first meeting between these teams this season.
Through 18 games, has there ever been a more-scrutinized team in NBA history than the Miami Heat? The focus of this game is going to be everything but the game itself, which the Heat should win easily. A multitude of distractions await LeBron James in his return to the city where he played his first seven seasons, from his feud with Miami coach Erik Spoelstra to Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into an investigation of possible collusion between James, James’ representatives, Dwyane Wade and Miami Heat president Pat Riley. Set all that aside and you still have a team in the Heat that as long as one of their Big 3 – James, Wade or Chris Bosh – get hot, they can beat a team with Mo WIlliams as its best player 6 out of 7 nights a week. And they don’t play on Sundays.
Probably the best asset the Cavs will have in this game is almost 20,000 heat-breathing, bloodthirsty fans wearing shirts that say “QUEEN JAMES” and “QUITNESS” – they’re worth at least six points, in my opinion. No, the problem for the Cavs has been on the court. Like we said, if Mo Williams is your best player, you’re gonna struggle. Dude just came off a milk carton from Cleveland’s run in the playoffs last year. No heart.
The odds makers have the Miami Heat as a -5 point favorite with an over/under of 192.
The Heat have shown zero cohesion this season. They play together terribly and seem to be coming apart at the seams. That being said, they should be able to lock it in here, or at least get out of LeBron’s way enough for him to win the game on his own. Which is ironic because that’s how he led teh Cavs to the best record in the NBA the last two seasons. The most interesting thing about this game will be watching the reaction, because once James decides to turn it on, it’s over.
Look for LeBron to get close to a triple double and at least one of his teammates to step up and finish off Cleveland by 15 points.
Miami Heat Betting Trends:
- Miami is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games
- Miami is 0-5 ATS in its last 5 games
- The total has gone OVER in 10 of Miami’s last 14 games
- Miami is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.