Cleveland at Indiana
Time: 6 PM CT (TNT)
Spread: CLE -8
Total: 212.5
Odds c/o 5dimes
The Indiana Pacers prevailed as Game 1 underdogs in a massive 18-point blowout of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on its home court. Indiana will look to pull that again to take a 2-0 series lead but finds itself 8-point underdogs in Game 2, which will air at 6 PM (Central time) on TNT. NBA oddsmakers set the line at 212.5 points, despite the game 1 point total being a paltry 178 points. This seems like as good a time as any to trust the ‘under’ on the over/underprovided at 5dimes and other NBA bookmakers.
Aside from notions of spread betting and the total, this game will offer another great look at the likely Most Improved Player award winner for the 2017-18 season. Victor Oladipo has improved every facet and asset of his game dramatically, becoming a legitimate superstar in leading the Pacers to 48-wins in a season most expected roughly half of that rather impressive total.
Oladipo certainly seized the opportunity by its throat in Game 1, scoring 32 points, grabbing six boards, dishing four assists, and coming up with five steals/blocks while posting a +21 mark for his 37 minutes of court time. He got decent contributions from running-mats Myles Turner and Bogan Bogdanovic, who combined to score 16 and 15 respectively, though Bogan shot just 5 of 17 from the field and 1 of 6 from distance. The Pacers still connected on 11 of 28 threes (39 percent) as Oladlpo drilled 6 of his 9 triples and accounted for over half the Pacers’ downtown connections.
For the Pacers to emerge as Game 2 victors, it will require another superhuman effort from the locally grown Indiana University product. Darren Collison disappointed alongside Oladipo in the backcourt, as well, and getting more from the inconsistent floor general has to be on Indiana’s list of adjustments after Collison managed to hit just 2 of 9 from the floor and distribute only six assists in Game 1.
As for the Cavaliers, adjustments abound all the more so. LeBron James had a triple-double in perhaps the most solitary performance of his postseason career. It was the first time James suffered an opening round loss since 2012, and it was no small loss. He scored 24 points, dished 12 assists and snagged 10 boards, but still finished -13 for his 44 minutes of play. Fellow forward Jeff Green went scoreless, and the rest of the starting lineup had nine or less.
Only Larry Nance Jr put in a decent game off the bench, scoring 10 and grabbing five rebounds while coming up with three block/steals in 30 minutes of play. It will take more than LBJ and Nance clicking to knock off the Pacers, however. Cleveland shot an abjectly miserable 38.5 percent from the field while having 16 turnovers to just 21 team assists. It was ugly basketball, and the defensive effort was hardly much better.
To see the 50-win Cavaliers falter was not surprising in so many senses, though. “NBA Twitter” has been predicting this to be the decline of the LBJ Cavs before he transitions to the next team and phase of his illustrious career. There just is not enough chemistry in Cleveland, nor is there a real solid No. 2 scorer after parting with the struggling Isaiah Thomas, who came at the sky-high cost of Kyrie Irving, to begin with. Perhaps only now does LeBron regret calling Kyrie Irving “son,” and driving him off to play in the most allegedly racist sports city in the NBA, as a member of the Boston Celtics. That nasty digression aside, James has delivered a title to the Land, and after this season it would be far less than surprising to see him end up either in an L.A. Lakers uniform or playing alongside James Harden and Chris Paul in Rockets’ red. For now, enjoy the fact that the Pacers are going to make this much closer than an 8-point game, and even entertain notions of betting Indy S/U on the money line. Oladipo has been hungry for meaning in his career, and now that he is finding it he can’t seem to get enough of it.
