Heat vs. Cavs Betting Line
Carrie Stroup here with your Heat vs. Cavs betting line.
Sportsbook.ag Line: Cleveland -12.5, Total: 193
The Cleveland Cavaliers host the Miami Heat on Wednesday night as LeBron James meets his former team for the second time and attempts to avenge an early-season loss.
Miami is struggling at the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff race and it comes into this tough matchup with losses in seven of its past 11 games. They are 5-6 ATS in that time and were the underdog in eight of the contests as they continue to see their production trend downwards. The Heat had a nice draw on Monday though; as they took on the Knicks at home and grabbed a 109-95 win giving 4.5 points. They were able to outscore New York 57-39 in the second half as the team shot a scorching 48.6% from the field, including making 12-of-22 (55% 3PM) from behind the arc.
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Cleveland has shaken off some early season woes and is scorching hot with victories in 13 of its past 14 contests (11-3 ATS) as it defeats opponents by an average of 12.9 PPG. During the recent surge, they have done a great job on the offensive end, hitting triple-digits in 11 of the 13 wins as they average 109.0 PPG. The Lakers were the Cavs’ latest victim as they rolled over for Cleveland and lost 120-105 as 14-point underdogs on Sunday. The Cavaliers had no issues making shots, hitting 45-of-82 attempts (55% FG) and 18-of-33 threes (55% 3PM) and held L.A. to just 41 makes despite taking 100 shots in the game (41% FG).
Miami has actually done much better on the road this year with a 13-14 SU record (15-11-1 ATS) as they go against a Cavs group which is a solid 20-9 SU (15-14 ATS) at home. These clubs met once on the year and it came on Christmas day when Miami spoiled LeBron’s return to South Beach with a 101-91 victory as six-point underdogs. They ran up a large 62-49 halftime lead and rode some solid shooting (47.6% FG) throughout the win. The teams are quite different now compared to the past few years, but it should be noted that the Heat have not lost in this matchup since early 2012 (11 games) and are 5-6 ATS in that time.
Some trends bettors should be aware of include the Cavs are a meager 4-14 ATS (22%) after two straight games where their opponent was called for 18 or less fouls over the last two season and Miami is a poor 6-16 ATS (27%) after a game where it covered the spread this year. On the injury front, SG Dwyane Wade (Hamstring), SF Shawne Williams (Hip) and SF James Ennis (Knee) are all listed as day-to-day for the Heat and Cleveland will continue to be without C Anderson Varejao (Achilles) for the remainder of the season.
The Heat have one of the worst scoring offenses in the league and are netting a mere 92.8 PPG (3rd-worst in league) on some solid shooting (45.6% FG, 11th in league). The team has managed to put together some solid defensive efforts and is giving up just 96.3 PPG (2nd-worst in league) on 45.6% shooting (10th-worst in league).
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PF Chris Bosh (21.2 PPG, 7.2 RPG) rebounded from two poor games with a big performance (32 points, 6 assists) against the Knicks but has averaged just 4.8 RPG over the last five games. He missed the earlier matchup with the Cavs but did well (16.3 PPG, 8.3 RPG) in three games against them last year.
C Hassan Whiteside (9.7 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 2.5 BPG) has came out of nowhere to be a force in the league and was on the court for a mere 19 minutes against New York as he deals with a tweaked ankle but had scored 16.8 PPG to go with 15.3 RPG and 3.8 BPG in his previous six performances. He has played just eight minutes in his career against the Cavaliers.
SF Luol Deng (14.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 1.0 SPG) has scored in double-digits in each of the past four contests (14.3 PPG) and he will hope to repeat his great performance (25 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists) that he had the first time facing Cleveland this year.
Cleveland has been seeing its offense improve as the season moves along and is currently ninth in the league as it scores 102.0 PPG behind 45.5% shooting as a team (12th in league). Their defense has done its job as well, allowing opponents to put up 99.2 PPG (12th in league) as opponents are making 45.8% of their shots (8th-worst in league).
SF LeBron James (26.0 PPG, 7.4 APG, 5.5 RPG, 1.5 SPG) is coming off a near triple-double (22 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists) in the win over L.A. on Sunday but has struggled with ball security of late; turning the rock over 13 times in the last two contests. He was tremendous when he met his old team in a loss back on Christmas, scoring 30 points to go with eight assists and four rebounds.
PG Kyrie Irving (21.9 PPG, 5.3 APG, 1.5 SPG) has been tearing it up in his last two performances, making 23-of-40 shots (58% FG) as he scored 28.5 PPG. He also was solid against Miami in December with 10-of-19 shots going in as he netted 25 points with four rebounds.
PF Kevin Love (17.1 PPG, 10.5 RPG) handled the Lakers with ease on Sunday with 32 points and 10 rebounds; his fifth double-double in the last seven games. He was the only one of the big-three to have a poor showing in the first meeting with the Heat as he was a mere 5-for-13 from the field (0-for-4 from behind the arc) with 14 points and just five rebounds.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
