NBA Basketball Betting – Bobcats at Cavaliers
The Charlotte Bobcats, under new leadership in the form of Larry Brown, take to the floor in the opening game of their NBA season when they tackle the Cleveland Cavaliers (0-1 SU, 1-0 ATS) in NBA action that is scheduled for 7 PM ET at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
BetUS NBA Basketball Sports Betting Odds: CLEVELAND -10, Total 183.5
Here are some of the NBA basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* CHAR has covered five of its last 16 games
* CHAR has played four of its last five games OVER the total
* CHAR has won five of its last seven road games SU
* CHAR has lost 17 of its last 24 road games SU
* CHAR has played nine of its last 12 road games UNDER the total
* CLEV has covered its last five games
* CLEV has played 14 of its last 20 games UNDER the total
* CLEV has won and covered five of its last six home games
* CLEV has played eight of its last ten home games UNDER the total
Also….
* CLEV has won 12 of the last 15 meetings SU
* Four of the last five meetings have gone OVER the total
* CHAR has covered five of the last six meetings as the road team
* CLEV has won the last five meetings SU as the home team
* Four of the last six meetings in Cleveland have gone OVER the total
Cleveland held a lead into the second half at the TD Banknorth Garden on Tuesday night, but lost to the Celtics by a 90-85 score, shooting under 43% in the process. LeBron James did not have a great scoring night, with 22 points, as might be expected against a team with such a defensive culture, but again, he proved his versatility by handing out six assists and grabbing seven rebounds.
It’s obviously too early to draw any conclusions, but we look for Cleveland to be a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference, and it wouldn’t be so far out of school to put them right behind Boston. Mo Williams is expected to add some scoring punch and take some of the pressure off LeBron; he had only 12 points on opening night but that should improve. Williams can supply some shooting from beyond the arc, something the Cavs have lacked in the recent past; in fact, he was 3-5 from downtown in Boston, while the rest of the team was 0 for 10.
I don’t really know what to expect from Charlotte. They appear to have assembled a nucleus of young talent, have two certified NBA scoring threats in Gerald Wallace and Jason Richardson, a bona fide rebounder and shot-blocker in Emeka Okafor, and a new coach in Larry Brown who is not a stranger to engineering some reclamation projects. But indications are that he is not happy with the makeup on this team, and there was a problem last year when coach Sam Vincent had to beat back near-mutiny on the part of his players.
Charlotte is challenged on the defensive end as well, and there are major questions as to who can provide Okafor with any help up front. Sean May, who missed last season, is too out of shape to do that, according to Brown, and there are no reinforcements. This team went 0-8 in the pre-season, which disturbed Brown no end. We don’t forecast a magic turnaround, so we will lay the points with the Cavaliers, the ten-point favorite in the BetUS NBA basketball odds.
