posted November 19, 2008 at 16:08 in NBA Articles
NBA Betting Game of the Night – James, Cavs visit Iverson, Pistons
by Mike Rose

Two of the Eastern Conference’s finest square off on Wednesday night when the Cleveland Cavaliers pay a visit to Detroit to face the Pistons in an elite sports betting contest. Offshore sportsbooks have installed the home standing Pistons as 3-point betting line favorites, and have set the Internet sports betting total at 191.5. The Cavs enter this game with a 9-2 record, and are an impressive 8-3 ATS. The Pistons are 7-3 SU, but have juiced out against the spread going 5-5 for their betting backers.
There are some interesting NBA betting trends to consider before placing an online wager at an Internet sportsbook. Cleveland has been awesome against the spread dating back to last season; the Cavs are 12-3 ATS in their past 15 games. Cleveland bettors have also cashed their tickets nine out of the past 12 times these two teams have faced one other. Detroit also hasn’t covered in any of its three home games this season, but the favorite is 5-0 ATS in the past five meetings of this series. The ‘under’ has also been a solid sports wager the past few years, as it is 25-6 in the past 31 games.
Cleveland will be playing the second game of a back-to-back, on the heels of a 106-82 spanking of the New Jersey Nets. The win was the eighth in a row for the Cavaliers, who have topped 100 points in seven of those eight games. The ‘over’ is 7-0 in their past seven games.
LeBron James was his usual dominating self against the Nets, putting up a nifty 31-point, eight-rebound, four-assist line. But his revamped supporting cast was equally impressive led by the backcourt duo of Mo Williams and Delonte West, both of whom netted 16 points and shot over 50 percent from the floor. The Cleveland defense also put the clamps down on Vince Carter and the New Jersey offense, limiting Carter to just 12 points and limiting NJ to 36% shooting on the night.
Detroit returns home after a successful 3-1 road trip that ended on a sour note with a 104-86 loss at Phoenix. Allen Iverson had his worst game in a Pistons uniform and quite possibly in his storied career. “The Answer” couldn’t find a way to get the lid off the basket, scoring just nine points on 4-of-17 shooting, and his teammates looked uninspired at the end of their West Coast swing.
The game set up as a letdown just two days after the Pistons handed the Los Angeles Lakers their first loss of the season, on national TV no less. But NBA handicappers will have a keen eye on Detroit over the next few weeks, as this will be the first time that head coach Michael Curry will have Iverson, Rip Hamilton, and Rodney Stuckey at his disposal. It was initially thought that the acquisition of Iverson would mean Hamilton would have to come off the bench, but instead it was Stuckey who was the sixth man on Sunday.
Will Cleveland stay red-hot, or will long-time nemesis Detroit be able to cool the Cavs down? And what will Curry do with his rotation late in the game if Stuckey is effective throughout? Whichever way you lean, BetUS.com is the only place to do your online betting. Its NBA lines are up, so login and get your basketball picks in now.


