Posted on 3/12/2008 8:05:59 PM

NBA Betting Free Picks -Cavs to Rip Apart Nets

By Tim Furious

Cleveland Cavaliers (37-27) vs. New Jersey Nets (26-38)

Wednesday, March 12th --- Izod Center, New Jersey --- 7:30pm EST

NBA Betting Line: Cleveland -3.5 (190)

So much for the assumption that Vince Carter was going to go ballistic in the second-half after Jason Kidd got traded. There was a chance that VC would feel slighted by Kidd for forcing a trade, and that he would respond by taking over the league. Well that didn’t happen. And now Jersey is in a five-game losing skid with a 1-5 ATS record in their past 6 games. So much for that.

Cleveland, meanwhile, is taking its sweet time getting healthy. Both Big Z and Big Ben are out with back problems and Boobie Freaking Gibson’s ankle is still bothering him. Despite the injuries, Cleveland is still 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games and 5-1 SU in their past six games. The problem is that they are historically marginal against the Nets. They are 3-7 ATS in their past 10 meetings with Jersey, and despite the loss of Kidd, I’m not going to sleep on Devin Harris.

Despite the loss of so many key elements, I still like Cleveland’s chances with anything under -4.5. They don’t have a dominating inside presence, but neither does Jersey. And if this comes down to an arms race between Lebron and Carter-Jefferson, I still like the King’s chances. It comes down to the flair that LBJ has to display to out match Kobe in the MVP race. LBJ needs to start putting some monster performances together in order to steal some votes from Kobe, and a big game against Carter and Skywalker would do just that. LBJ has 30.8 points per game, along with 8.1 rebounds and 7.4 assists. He’ll get some nice help from Joe Smith tonight, who has been steady with 9.8 points and 7.2 boards per game.

A lot of people in the betting community are going to like the Nets chances considering Cleveland’s tattered roster. But what has Jersey seriously brought to the table? They lost by seven points to Memphis. Memphis! Certainly you smart enough to believe that Lebron can handle these hapless and misguided Jersey boys, right?

Bet on the Cavs in the OVER as this game goes small ball with some fast and furious scoring.

NBA Furious Free Picks: Cleveland -3.5 (OVER)

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