NBA Preview: The Cavaliers are hoping to bounce back from two subpar performances against a pair of subpar teams. Subpar team #3, the Nets, host Cleveland tonight at the Barclays Center.
Cleveland Cavaliers (3-1) at Brooklyn Nets (2-2), Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. EST
Line: Cavs -6.5. Total: 228.
This line seems to be a bargain at first glance. However, Cleveland played on the back-end of a back-to-back four days ago on October 21 and laid an egg against Orlando. The Magic destroyed the Cavaliers 114-93 at Quicken Loans Arena.
The difference this time is that Cleveland’s opponent is also on a back-end of a back-to-back. With the half-point cover last night, the Nets are 3-1 ATS (Against the Spread). Brooklyn is also 3-0-1 to the Over on their totals this year, depending on when you got the total in their game against Atlanta. The total closed at 220.5 points, which ended up as an Under for that game.
After dismantling the Bucks at Milwaukee 116-97 on October 20, the Cavaliers have been flat. Cleveland took that bad loss against Orlando and did not do much better against the lowly Bulls at home. Chicago actually led 92-91 going into the fourth quarter before LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyle Korver combined for 23 of the Cavs 28 fourth-quarter points to defeat Chicago 119-112. James added 5 assists and 2 steals in the decisive quarter.
LeBron played point guard Tuesday night for the first time since the 2005-06 season. It was only the fifth game King James has played at point guard in his career. He may get a few more before Derrick Rose is ready to return to the lineup in about a week or so. James finished with 34 points, 13 assists and 3 steals for the game.
NBA Fantasy Information
Players to look at: LeBron James (Cavs), SF, $10,700. James will be at point guard for a few games until Rose returns, which means he will collect fewer rebounds. However, LeBron will score more assists and steals at that position. King James scored 62.9 fantasy points in Tuesday’s game against the Bulls.
D’Angelo Russell (Nets), PG, $7800. Russell is tearing it up with the Nets this season and scored a 39.5 fantasy-points day to his game log Tuesday at Orlando.
Caris LeVert (Nets), SG, $5800. LeVert is averaging 28 fantasy points per game and is worth a shot at starting. He is the type of player you add to round out your roster if you only have about $5800 left to spend.
DeMarre Carroll (Nets), SF, $5800. Carroll has been a pleasant surprise for Brooklyn the first 8 days of the season. He has consistently scored 33-to-34 fantasy points per game his last 3 contests.
Edit: 6:42 p.m. EST: I am a dog player in the NBA, but am taking three favorites tonight, which you will rarely see.
Cleveland Cavaliers -7.5, laying $110 to win $100 – A step up in class for Brooklyn here. The Nets are 2-2 to start the season. However, Brooklyn has played 4 teams who probably are not going to make the playoffs in a weak Eastern Conference.
Cleveland has been anything but impressive except during their one road game where they spanked the Milwaukee Bucks 116-97. The Bucks are going to be a playoff team this year.
The Nets are playing well early in the campaign, even after losing Jeremy Lin for the season. However, the Cavaliers should be able to name the score in this game. It is just a matter of whether the Cavs feel like playing 48 minutes tonight or not.
Oklahoma City Thunder -13, laying $110 to win $100 – Lots of reasons to like the Thunder tonight even though I cannot stand laying 13 points in the NBA. However, one thing I have learned over the years is that you have to play the trends and not the line.
The Pacers shot 66.7% from the field last night at Minnesota, which is nothing less than incredible. I did not look to see when the last time that happened in an NBA regular season game, but I bet it has been a few years. When a team shoots that well, it is an automatic play to fade them in their next game barring extenuating circumstances.
In this matchup, the extenuating circumstances all point to Oklahoma City. The Pacers had a decisive win over a quality team and are in a let-down situation, while the Thunder are in severe bounce-back mode after two straight losses.
I do not put a lot of stock in fading the public. The public is right more than people realize. However, the one situation that is the best situation to fade the public is when the public is heavily on a dog. I am seeing 60% or more on Indiana at a few websites. OKC is the play even though I hate laying double-digits in the NBA.
Washington Wizards -5.5, laying $110 to win $100 – The Lakers have not come close to covering against the two quality teams they have played. Los Angeles was down 20 points in the third quarter before making a late run in the fourth quarter to take a lead briefly. The Pelicans still beat them by 7, covering the 2.5-point Vegas line. The Clippers blew out the Lakers, leading by 24 points after three quarters and winning the game by 16.
The Wizards are 3-0, but have not blown out anyone. In fact, Washington has not won a game by more than 5 points all season. We do have a Twitter battle going on between Lavar Ball (father of Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball) and Marcin Gortat of the Wizards. Lavar Ball declared that his kid will not lose two games in one week. Gortat replied that John Wall will torture Lonzo Ball for 48 minutes. Wall did chime in and say there will be no mercy tonight.
The Lakers will make runs at Washington tonight. However, the Wizards will outlast the Lakers and hopefully pull away from them at some point.
All Picks:
Sides: (1) Was, (2) OKC, (3) Cle, (4) Tor, (5) Dal, (6) Min, (7) Den, (8) Mia, (9) Uta, (10) Phi
Total: (1) Dal un, (2) Was ov, (3) Tor ov, (4) Cle ov, (5) Den un, (6) Uta un, (7) OKC un, (8) Mia un, (9) Min ov, (10) Phi ov
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