Phoenix at Cleveland
Time: 7:30 PM ET
TV: NBA TV
Spread: CLE -10.5
Total: 211
Betting odds c/o bovada
The Cleveland Cavaliers are now hitting stride. The Cavs, losers of three of its past five, enter a home matchup with a chance to get back on track after a lopsided loss to Conference-leading Atlanta last night (Mar 6). Tonight it will host the Phoenix Suns.
NBA live lines at Bovada showed the Cavaliers as 10.5 point favorites in the affair, with the over/under set at 211. NBA odds explained will show how to bet these NBA lines.
The Cavs still sit 11 games behind Atlanta, and are hoping at best to supersede Chicago and/or Toronto. It’s tough to count the Cavs out tonight with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving playing so well. There is also the fact that the Bulls are without Derrick Rose indefinitely and the Raptors have won just three of its past 10.
Kevin Love has continued to produce at mediocre levels. Over his past nine games he is shooting just 43.6 percent from the floor for 16.7 points and nine boards a game. He’s seeing more and more of his crunch minutes go to reserve Tristan Thompson, whose contract alone warrants him sometimes usurping Love’s P.T. The Cavs are not a lock to extend max-money to Love, though some team likely will. The fact remains, he is not producing like a max player right now.
Cleveland has made a couple good acquisitions too. 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. He’s seeing 32 minutes a game and averaging 12.5 points per game.
Center Timofey Mozgov is a big imposing body and surprisingly good athlete and has averaged 10 points and 7.6 rebound per game to go along with 2.07 blocks/steals per content. Kendrick Perkins further fortifies the frontcourt but hasn’t seen many minutes yet.
Combo guard 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. He’s averaging 1.1 steals per game in just 22 minutes a night. 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. Simply, the Cavs do have some legitimate depth which will help against a matchup with Atlanta in the postseason.
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.
The Phoenix Suns are 33-30 and sit 1.5 games behind OKC for that last playoff spot. Few expected Phoenix to contend for it. The Suns lost both Isaiah Thomas to Boston and Goran Dragic to Miami at the trade deadline, and finding stability has been tough. But still the team has won four of its past 10 to stay in the picture.
Phoenix is also not especially dominant at home, where it has gone just 16-12 this season. Phoenix has typically had no trouble scoring the ball, ranking 3rd in the Association in points per game, but equivocally, its defense ranks the 3rd-worst.
The Suns are banking heavily on Brandon Knight, despite a short resume that only includes strong play for a poor Milwaukee Bucks team. Through three games, he has scored 17.3 points and dished five assists per game for the Suns, but his efficiency hasn’t been high.
Eric Bledsoe is performing about as well as could have been expected, but he’s going to have to take on an even larger role with Dragic removed from the picture. Dealing Dragic was a near must with him wanting out, but letting go of the dynamic water bug Thomas made less sense. Phoenix will expect Knight to step in and be an All-Star, but the sample size of his greatness just isn’t substantial. Thomas has shined in Boston meanwhile, and though he is limited defensively as a 5’9” guard, his talent is entirely undeniable. Knight’s best attribute is getting to the line a lot, and in the Suns 105-100 victory over Orlando he attempted 12 free throws, hitting 10.
It’s tough to see where the Suns are going, and the playoffs are not a likely destination. Alex Len has looked very promising, but the Suns don’t really have a franchise talent, notwithstanding that Bledsoe still has a higher ceiling to reach.
Markieff Morris is a good stretch-4, but he’s a role player, and this Suns team needs a couple more legitimate two-way players in both the frontcourt and backcourt. The Suns really are the least of a threat to Golden State as an eighth seed, so many fans are hoping to see OKC stay in the playoffs given Russell Westbrook’s great play, or even for the young New Orleans Pelicans to sneak in. Given that the Suns are double-digit underdogs, NBA oddsmakers are supporting the notion that Phoenix’s season is not going to result in a postseason berth.
