NBA: CLEVELAND, DETROIT RENEW PLAYOFF HOSTILITIES
The Cavaliers and Pistons have been longtime rivals in the NBA’s Central Division, but since Lebron James arrived in Cleveland, the clubs have also built an intense postseason rivalry as well.
They will get together once again in 2009, this time in the first round, and for a change, the Cavaliers are the heavy -3500 favorite.
Most bettors don’t give the Pistons much of a chance. Check the latest percentages on the NBA BETTING TRENDS page.
Cleveland and Detroit last met in the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals, with the Cavaliers winning on the road in Game 7 to take the series and earn a trip to their first NBA Finals.
Overall, Cleveland is on an impressive run of 11-2 ATS in their L13 postseason games against the Pistons. Lebron & Co. will not only have that historical playoff edge, but also the advantage of being the #1 seed in the East.
That means home court advantage in the series, and they have been nothing short of dominant at home in 2008-09. Perhaps the only good news for the Pistons is that they’ve been a respectable team on the road this season.
Cleveland took three of four games from Detroit in the regular season with the games split 2/2 ATS. All four games went under, and in the most recent three, incidentally the Cleveland wins, Detroit managed just 77 PPG. The Pistons also ended the season on just a 18-31 stretch and will be without Allen Iverson for the duration of the playoffs.
Prediction: Cleveland in five games
Now here’s a look at the top StatFox team playoff trends for both clubs:
#1 CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
* In the L2 years of the NBA playoffs, CLEVELAND is 19-14 SU & 22-10-1 ATS.
* CLEVELAND is on a totals run of 28-18 UNDER in the Lebron James era in the postseason.
* In its L15 playoff games with lines in the +4 to -4 range, CLEVELAND is an incredible 13-2 SU & 14-1 ATS.
#8 DETROIT PISTONS
* DETROIT is just 2-11 ATS in its L13 playoff games versus Cleveland.
* DETROIT is 29-14-1 UNDER the total in playoff games dating back to the mid-’06 postseason.
* DETROIT is on an incredible run of 23-5 SU & 16-7-5 ATS in the first round of the playoffs.
