New Orleans at Cleveland
Time: 7 PM CT (ESPN)
Spread: CLE -4
Total: 226.5
Odds c/o 5dimes
The New Orleans Pelicans are cooling at just the wrong time. As losers of its past two, it travels to face the Cleveland Cavaliers at 7 PM on ESPN. New Orleans is 43-32, but trails No. 3 Portland by just three games in the standings. Still, the season’s end is rapidly approaching and the Pelicans must win a few games to retain its status as a postseason team, because New Orleans leads No. 9 Los Angeles (Clippers) by just two-games in the standings. The Western Conference is that tightly packed.
The Cavaliers, meanwhile, are 45-30 and in a three-way battle for the No. 3 seed, which it currently possesses. The Cavs have won seven of its last 10 games, and are a half game ahead of both No. 4 Philadelphia and No. 5 Indiana. If the playoffs began today, the Cavaliers would face the Washington Wizards. Cleveland is 4-point favorites in tonight’s affair, the first half of an ESPN Friday night doubleheader.
Cleveland
The Cavs underwent a major makeover at the trade deadline, and though the team initially struggled following that whirlwind of moves, the team is now gaining real momentum as it is gelling and starting to look like a great team, one that is of course centered around the immense skills of one LeBron James. James tied Michale Jordan’s double-figure scoring streak of 866 games in Cleveland’s victory over the Charlotte Hornets, as he scored 41 points on 14 of 26 shooting. Though he has aged, James is showing close to no signs of slowing down, and his supporting cast seems to have improved as a result of the Cavaliers’ trades.
Larry Nance Jr., in particular, is settling in nicely in Cleveland where his father spent the majority of his legendary career. Nance has averaged 11 points, eight rebounds and two-plus blocks/steals per game since being acquired, having started in six of his 17 appearances. The Cavaliers also have got a nice boost from the shooting of Rodney Hood, and George Hill is major upgrade to the point guard position, though he has struggled somewhat since joining Cleveland.
No matter the case, adding Hood, Hill, Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson has given the bench a major boost from the aged and poor play of Derrick Rose and Dwyane Wade. The Cavaliers got younger, and James had called for changes, but now the team does have to deal with some of the losses incurred. Among them, losing Jae Crowder subtracted the team’s best perimeter defender, and now James will draw tougher defensive assignments without the workhorse that was Jae Crowder. Still, as Cleveland continues to gel, we all know it is a looming dark horse with LBJ guiding the ship.
New Orleans
When the New Orleans Pelicans lost DeMarcus Cousins for the season, many figured it would be curtains to any hopes the team had at contending or even making the postseason. Not so! Anthony Davis has stepped up his play one notch further, and should be in serious contention for the league’s MVP Award (Though it likely will go to Houston’s James Harden!). Davis is one of the quickest and best offensive bigs since the juggernauts of the 1990s, and if the Pelicans are to ride any postseason success it will be on the shoulders of “Brow.” Meanwhile, Cousins recovers from an Achilles’ injury that will likely cause him to miss at least half of next season, as well.
However, his friendship with Davis bodes very well for the Pelicans re-signing “Boogie,” and most in NBA circles believe Cousins is, indeed, destined to return to New Orleans. Paramount also in the team’s surge sans Cousins, has been Jrue Holiday returning his play to an All-Star level. While once regarded as a pure point guard, Holiday has drawn defensive assignments at four positions, and his versatility is helping New Orleans overcome its lack of talent and depth at the 3-spot. Truth be told,
The Pelicans are a lot closer to building a complete team than most realize, and it will require adding a “three and D” wing player to replace the inefficient and poor play of Solomon Hill. Hill was a gamble by management, and a case of a team overspending to try to fill a position. While New Orleans once looked like a team riddled with “Holes” it now appears to be a team that is maybe one or two more moves away from being a true contender. And it is likely to crash the postseason after several years of struggling.
