Cleveland at Dallas
Time: 8:30 ET
TV: NBA TV
Spread: CLE -5
Total: 201

Betting odds c/o Bovada

The Cleveland Cavaliers are now hitting stride. The Cavs, winners of seven of its past 10 SU, enter a tough home matchup against a playoff team in the Western Conference, the Dallas Mavericks. NBA live lines at Bovada showed the Cavaliers as 5-point favorites in the affair, with the over/under set at 201. NBA odds explained will show how to bet these NBA lines.

The Cavs still sit 11 games behind Atlanta. In all likelihood the Cavs will finish in the No. 3 or No .4 spot in the East which will result in a matchup with Washington, Milwaukee or Miami. Only the Wizards pose a realistic threat to LBJ and company, and that is the opponent it would draw if the playoffs began today. No team in the East, save maybe the Hawks (though even ATL is cooling), is exactly on fire at the moment, however.

Perhaps best of all for Cleveland, Kevin Love is now starting to show signs of life. The coveted power forward had 24 points, nine boards, three assists and a steal in the 102-93 victory over Detroit on Tuesday (Feb 24) night.

James was three rebounds shy of a triple double, dishing out 11 assists and posting a team high plus-27 while on the court. Irving had an off night shooting the ball hitting just 6 of 16, but the Cavs hit 14 threes, assisted 22 times on 34 field goals, and only turned the ball over 14 times. It was enough to overcome a negative-6 disadvantage on the boards, and getting after the glass against the Celtics tonight will prove vital, too.

The Cavs most recently defeated Phoenix 89-79 at home as it got 49 points on 15 field goals from its frontcourt of Kevin Love, LeBron James and Timfoey Mozgov. Mozgov shot 6 of 8 from the floor and 7 of 8 from the line while posting a team-best +25 on the court. Love hit 3 of 5 from three-point range, displaying the stroke that the Cavs need from him. His backup, Tristan Thompson has been playing great high energy basketball and had 15 points and 12 rebounds (eight offensive!) in the win over Phoenix.

Cleveland made a couple good acquisitions. For all the shot chucking J.R. Smith does, he is a better fit than the discontented Dion Waiters, who was dealt to the OKC Thunder in a three-team deal before the deadline. Timofey Mozgov is a big imposing body and surprisingly good athlete. Kendrick Perkins further fortifies the frontcourt. Iman Shumpert hasn’t quite panned out as the Cavs hoped he might, but the Cavs have plenty of options off the bench and Shumpert always offers steady defense if nothing else. Even Matthew Dellaedova adds steadiness to the second unit, and the combo guard shoots 40.2 percent from behind the arc this season, while attempting 2.4 per game.

The Cavs have been seeking floor spacing, and Love’s lack of accuracy this season (35.9 percent) has been partly to blame. It’s still a good mark for a power forward, but not the level of shooting he displayed in Minnesota prior to being dealt for No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins. Even though Love is not the indisputable best power forward in the NBA anymore (Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge both have better resumes this year), he is still a better fit than a raw rookie like Wiggins.

Every player has off years, and Love may get back on track still, as he has shown signs of in recent games. Love has shot 45.8 percent from the floor in his last nine games, but is seeing only 31.1 minutes per night over that stretch. With Tristan Thompson being one of the best power forward reserves in the NBA, the Cavs are afforded the luxury of sitting Love when he’s not producing. It seems strange to type these things about a player whose ability to throw a 20/20 game seemed almost taken for granted, but Love is still only 26 years old and there’s enough reasons to believe this could just be an anomalous player whose talents will likely render him an All-Star again in coming seasons.

Dallas, perplexingly has not made the best use of Rajon Rondo. The long-time Boston Celtic is struggling to adjust to life in Dallas, averaging just 28 minutes per game while posting a PER nearly four points below the league average (just 11.2). He’s dishing out only 6.2 assists per game, the penchant of Rondo’s strong play is not being maximized. He’s clashed with coach Rick Carlisle and Amin El Hassan of ESPN said he just isn’t even a good fit in Dallas. The Mavericks enter tonight’s contest at Oracle Arena as 10 point underdogs t the Golden State Warriors. NBA live odds also list the total as 208. For an explanation of how to bet an over/under, see our NBA odds explained.

Part of Rondo’s issues are due to Monta Ellis. Ellis is a high usage guard dependent on having the ball in his hands to score. And because Ellis is the primary source of Dallas’ offense, it has proven counterproductive to overly rely on Rondo’s creation. Dirk Nowitzki can get his shot off without the help of either guard, and Chandler Parsons picks and chooses his spots to score without needing a lot of plays called either. Rondo had 10 points, nine assists and seven boards in the Mavs 94-75 loss to the Trail Blazers last night (Mar 5), though he did shoot just 5 of 13 from the field.

Tyson Chandler and Amar’e Stoudemire, too, can find plenty of opportunistic buckets. This basically renders it a power struggle between Ellis and Rondo in the backcourt, and Ellis has both tenure and the early successes of this season to rely on keeping his role within the offense. Rondo is still coming up with 1.32 steals in his 28 minutes a game, but it seems that Dallas is not really getting what it bargained for when the team added the All-Star into the mix. Stoudemire has played very well the last two contests, hitting 11 of 16 from the floor for 13 points per game in 18.5 minutes per contest. This is the type of role the Mavericks had in mind when it claimed Stoudemire off waivers.

Chandler Parsons dubiously has been worth the contract he received, too, considering his play has still hovered at about average production for an NBA small forward. He’s also nursing a bone bruise on his left ankle which has held him out of the past two contests. Parsons is unlikely to return tonight, and there is no immediate timetable regarding his availability.

The Mavs are a strong team because it has a lot of depth and is well coached, but not because Nowitzki is the same player he was when the team won the 2010 Finals, nor because Ellis is capable of carrying a team through the postseason. In other words, there are a lot of questions that need to be answered in Dallas and it’s going to take more than a three-game win streak to inspire confidence in the loaded West. Defeating the Hawks tonight would be one bigger step towards doing so, but for a 41-24 team, it lacks a lot of the defining factors that seem to be indicative of championships squads.

Dallas has lost four of its past six SU, including losses to Atlanta, Brooklyn, Portland and Golden State. The Mavs were victorious Sunday over the lowly Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center, but will have to step it up with the L.A. Clippers, OKC Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies on the horizon through Mar 20.