Posted on
1/17/2008 6:46:30 PM
NBA Betting - Cleveland Cavaliers (+ 7) vs. San Antonio Spurs (- 7)
By D.S. Williamson
The Cavaliers travel to San Antonio to take on a Spurs team that has been less than spectacular against the spread this year. The Spurs are still one of the top three teams in the NBA, but their against the spread record isn’t nearly as good as their straight-up record.
Of course, Cleveland isn’t much better. In any case, here are some trends to help us sort this one out:
The Cleveland Cavaliers are 6 and 1 against the spread in their last 7 Thursday games.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are 1 and 4 against the spread in their last 5 games in San Antonio.
The HOME team is 8 and 2 against the spread in the last 10 meetings between these two teams.
Since the Cavs have gone 3 and 5 against the spread in their last eight games and the Spurs have gone 2 and 6 against the spread in their last eight, neither the trends above nor the overall against the spread record means all that much in this game.
The bottom line to me is the actual point spread. The Spurs are still getting the benefit of the doubt by having to give up 7 points in this game. The Cavaliers have to be considered a disappointment so far this year after racking up only two wins above .500.
Still, the Spurs are doing what they do every year before March, playing to win and nothing more. I don’t think the Spurs like the blow-out teams. If they do, they certainly don’t show it. For such a fantastic team, I just can’t get past that against the spread record. It’s atrocious.
Because of that I have to take the Cavs and the points tonight. It’s the only logical thing to do. LeBron James tends to step it up in big profile games. This is a rematch of last years’ NBA Finals where James and the Cavs were trounced in four games. James will have something on the line tonight, the Spurs won’t.
The BetUS basketball betting line is Cleveland Cavaliers + 7 against the spread on the road versus the San Antonio Spurs.
I like the Cavs to beat the spread. They don’t think they will win this game outright, but they certainly can keep it close.
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