CLE @ MIA
Time: 7 PM CT
Spread: MIA -2
Total: 190
Betting odds c/o Bovada
The Miami Heat are 9-3 at home this season and will host the Cleveland Cavaliers as 2-point favorites in NBA odds. The Heat have won seven of its past 10 games and have done so with the NBA’s No. 2 rated defense. The over/under for the game reflects this, set low at just 190.
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Miami scored a big 97-95 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night as it held Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook to a combined 17 of 39 shooting evening while allowing just 45 points from their collective teammates. Dwyane Wade turned back the clock with a 28 point evening and Hassan Whiteside keyed the defense with a pair of blocks.
Whiteside leads the NBA in blocks shots by a substantial margin, averaging 4.7 per game this season as one of the league’s top defensive centers. The Heat are also getting strong defensive contributions from Justise Winslow and Josh McRoberts off the bench, and Miami’s strong second unit could prove to be a key in this game with the Cleveland Cavaliers also having such a strong bench.
The Cavs rank No. 11 in defensive rating and No. 8 in points scored but the Cavs have dropped two straight games to the Washington Wizards and New Orleans Pelicans. The 114-108 loss to New Orleans came in OT, as Anthony Davis scored 31 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the game.
Two-time NBA champion LeBron James had a huge game with 37 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, but the Cavs allowed New Orleans to shoot a true shooting percentage of 54.2. The Cavs are 13-6 on the season and rank second in the Central Division.
Cleveland will do its best to counter a very balanced Heat offense. Wade leads the way with 18.6 points per game but Miami has a strong eight-man rotation which features all but Justise Winslow averaging more than eight per game. Winslow has been a strong defender but has yet to find his groove on the offensive end of the court.
The Duke product is shooting 44.6 percent from the floor but as some expected his range has not quite extended beyond the NBA three-point line, and he is hitting just 25 percent of his threes this season.
Even so, the No. 10 overall pick still looks to be one of the steals of the 2015 draft, and the Heat have found his role already. Backing up an injured Luol Deng, Winslow will eventually serve much the same role as a glue guy and defensive pest.
Goran Dragic has been slightly disappointing this season. Dragic inked a max-deal but has provided just 10.8 points and 4.5 assists per game this season while shooting just 27 percent from three-point range. It is still early in the season, but if Miami is to contend in the East it is going to need much more dynamic play from Dragic.
The Heat have the scorers to produce an effective offense, but as of yet it still has a very unsettled feel to it.
Swingman Gerald Green is capable of putting up big numbers but he is averaging less than 10 points per game in 23 minutes a night. Deng has fallen off and has sat out the past four games. Chris Bosh is playing reasonably well, but is shooting just 43.3 percent from the floor on 13.7 attempts per night. Basically, just getting more from Dragic and Bosh would catapult this tough defensive team into the realm of contention, and that is pretty amazing since it lost its superstar LeBron James.
James and the Cavs might have made the NBA Finals, but it is hard to argue that any team is more balanced and tough than the Heat this season. The Cavs have been without Kyrie Irving all season and Iman Shumpert is out for three months. Miami is without Deng as said, and Amar’e Stoudemire is also out for the contest. Even so, these are two very strong teams that will slug it out in a defensive affair.
