NBA Betting Predictions - Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Detroit Pistons
by Tim Furious
The return of LeBron James to the Cleveland Cavaliers has bolstered their chances of covering moderately large betting spreads and furthered their prominence of being a regular NBA betting prediction every night they take the floor. The league’s best overall record is sure to get some padding when the Cavs visit the Detroit Pistons, and the last thing Detroit needs to see is a rejuvenated LeBron James.
There are a few arenas in the league where LeBron seems to thrive. Most notably, whenever he visits places like Madison Square Garden and TD Garden, he seems to raise his game to another level. Unfortunately for Detroit, this is a trend that started in the now-famous Game 5 against Detroit at the Palace. James has averaged 37.0 points and 10.5 boards in two games against the Detroit Pistons this year.
Cleveland’s recent 1-4 ATS record should be ignored for betting purposes. They played three of those games without LeBron. Overall Cleveland has almost always dominated this matchup with a 9-1 SU record and a 7-3 ATS record overall in their past 10 meetings. When playing in Detroit, Cleveland is a sturdy 4-1 ATS against the Pistons and they’ll also enjoy the return of Antawn Jamison whose knee has been problematic.
Cleveland Cavaliers (52-15) vs. Detroit Pistons (23-44)
Tuesday, March 16th --- Palace of Auburn Hills --- 7:30pm EST
NBA Betting Line: Cleveland -9.5 (195.5)
Detroit is also coming off a visit to the Boston Celtics where they lost by a 26-point margin with a +9.0 point handicap. At just 3-6 ATS in their past 9 games overall, things don’t get much better at home. Detroit is just 4-8-2 ATS in their last 14 games at home and even with a big betting spread to help them, injuries continue to be the bane of their existence.
Times are at an all-time low for the Detroit Pistons and the continued absence of Rodney Stuckey makes them a stay-away bet unless you’re feeling mighty risky. But the loss of Tayshaun Prince, who his not expected to play after getting kneed in the back last night. I’m sure Prince, who gets routinely dismantled by LeBron James, is looking forward to having the night off.
Honestly, it’s a sad state of affairs to write about the continued demise of the empire once known as the Detroit Pistons. You’d think that the $16.5 million that they paid Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva this past summer would’ve given them some support to weather the storm, but neither player has been particularly admirable or memorable this season.
What will be worth remembering when you bet this game is how much LeBron loves lighting up the scoreboard at the Palace. The last four wins at the Palace have come with an average point differential of +13.0 points so don’t be afraid of this line tonight for Cleveland.
