Cleveland Rocked: The Cavs face some adversity as they head into the stretch run of the NBA season
The Cleveland Cavaliers were riding a high about a week ago. Online sportsbooks had the Cavs listed at -110 wagering lines to take the Eastern Conference and +225 NBA lines to win an NBA title and they had just completed a deal for Antawn Jamison.
Things aren’t so peachy this week. Cleveland learned that center Shaquille O’Neal, who sprained his right thumb in a game against Boston last Thursday, would be out for the rest of the regular season and possibly the first-round of the NBA playoffs—he had successful surgery on his thumb on Monday.
“The doctors were very pleased with the surgery [Monday] morning,” Cavs GM Danny Ferry said. “He will be in a splint for the next two weeks. From there he starts the process of physical therapy so that he can be at full strength and back on the court during the playoffs.”
Cleveland currently is using Anderson Varejao at the five-spot but it may be another three weeks before they can get some help. The Cavaliers dealt away C Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who was subsequently bought out by the Washington Wizards, the team that had traded for him a little over a week earlier, meaning he could possibly return to Cleveland in a few weeks time.
In Cleveland’s last nine games overall, they are 3-6 against the spread. They have produced 7 Overs and 3 Unders in those 10 games. The Cavs are on a seven-game win streak straight up in their last seven overall against the Nets, as one might expect against a bad New Jersey team. Looking at the Over/Under numbers in these head-to-head matchups with only 3 Overs and 11 Unders.
In Cleveland’s last eight visits to Jersey, these two have combined for 6 Unders.
The Boston Celtics play a road game against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday before hosting the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday.Boston has been a very good play for sports bettors in their last 10 visits to the Motor City, producing a profitable mark of 8-2 ATS. Total bettors take note, in those 10 games the results have been only 1 Over and 9 Unders.
Looking ahead, Boston heads in to play Charlotte, where they are only 3-7 ATS. That will be their second game in back-to-back nights. The Celtics have also struggled in their last 10 games in this situation, posting a losing 3-7 ATS mark.