Posted on 3/19/2008 6:58:55 PM

NBA Betting Furious Free Picks – Detroit Battles Familiar Foes

By Tim Furious

Detroit Pistons (49-18) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (38-30)

Wednesday, March 19th --- Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland --- 8:00pm EST

NBA Betting Line: Cleveland -1 (184.5)

Detroit got their revenge on Lebron in November when they pasted the Cavs 109-78. What they have in store for Big Ben Wallace has yet to be seen. But you have to worry about a team that had to play in Denver the night before. Do the Pistons have enough in the tank after dropping 136-points on the Nuggets last night?

The Pistons have gone 7-3 SU in their past 10 road games and are 5-1 SU in their past 6 games. They hold a distinct advantage over the Cavaliers at the point-guard position where Chauncey Billups will reign supreme over Delonte West. West is a solid defender, but they don’t call Billups “Mr. Big Shot” for nothing.

The other positions, however, I’m not so sure about. Obviously, Lebron James is an absolute mismatch for anyone that the Pistons can throw at him. Prince was embarrassed by him in the playoffs, and Lebron will be out to prove that the road to the NBA Finals doesn’t go through Boston or Detroit. And with the MVP race on the line, Lebron needs some eye-popping numbers to retake the lead against Kobe.

The problem I continually have with Detroit is the lack of depth of the bench, and their obvious lack of size. They went from being one of the biggest and most intimidating teams in the league, to an efficient, perimeter defense team that. The combination of Big Zydrunas and Big Ben in the paint will be too much for Antonio McDyess to bear, and the size of Cleveland will undoubtedly give them a distinct advantage in this game. I have said it time and again – Detroit is not the same Pistons team the NBA has feared. They are efficient and lack sufficient size.

Detroit has driven the OVER in 6-of-9 road games, and both teams are defensively sound. Cleveland only allows 97.7 points against, but Detroit has the second best defense in the league with only 90.8 points against.

The Cavs have had to go through some growing pains since their new roster came to town, and subsequently got decimated by injuries. Detroit is coming off a very impressive road trip, but they have to be exhausted. They’ve beaten Denver, New Orleans and San Antonio decisively, but the tank is going to be running low, and that is not the way you want to be when you run in to a team like the Cavs which boasts size and power.

Bet against the road weary Pistons as Lebron puts on an MVP caliber show and Big Ben turns back the clock against his old team. I just don’t think a team that has to travel to four different states in four days can lift themselves to compete against LBJ on his home court.

NBA Furious Free Pick: Cleveland -1 (UNDER)

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