Cleveland Cavaliers Face Sixers With James, Without Jamison
by Tim Furious
With the success of Cleveland’s stellar season, the toll on LeBron James’ body has been brutal. Even a man of his unearthly proportions and talents has to get some rest, and now he’s got some. After taking nearly a week off from play, James returns tonight against Philadelphia to shove the Sixers farther in to the gutter.
Unfortunately, the Cavs will continue on without Antawn Jamison who is battling a sore knee. Cleveland, however, has shown its resilience from the bench by beating San Antonio 97-95. That win brought them to a recent streak of 7-1 SU and success has come even easier when they play Philadelphia.
The Cavs are 6-1 ATS in their past 7 games against Philadelphia, and are 6-1 SU during that stretch as well. Part of the reason is that LeBron James unleashes hell when he plays Philadelphia. In two games against the Sixers this season he’s averaged 34.0 points, 8.0 assists and 6.5 rebounds. Nobody in Philadelphia can stop this guy.
Cleveland Cavaliers (50-15) vs. Philadelphia 76ers (23-41)
Friday, March 12th
Wachovia Center --- 7:00pm EST
NBA Betting Line: Cleveland -7.5 (198.5)
Everyone in the NBA has seemingly been able to stop the Sixers. They’re just 1-7 SU in their past 8 games and are reeling on a 1-5 ATS streak in their past 6. Returning home isn’t going to get any easier. At the Wachovia Center, the Sixers are just 1-4 SU/ATS and they’re winless in five games when hosting Cleveland.
In fact, Philadelphia has been outscored by 15.3 points in their last three home games. Those losses have been against Charlotte, Boston and Orlando. High profile teams have been beating the crap out of Philadelphia so with a relatively moderate betting line on tap tonight this is an easy pick for NBA betting.
A nice break in the schedule has given Cleveland a chance to lick its wounds, and as we enter the home stretch, keeping track of Cleveland’s shooting is going to be key to winning some money off their efforts. Without Jamison and Shaq, their front court is going to be depleted but luckily the Sixers don’t have the personnel to take advantage of that.
Furious Free Pick: Cleveland -7.5 (OVER) > > JOIN TO BET!!
