Friday NBA Odds: Take Cleveland to Beat Brooklyn

After striking a telling blow to the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers will be traveling to the Barclays Center to faceoff the surging Brooklyn Nets, who bounced back from Monday’s defeat to Boston with a win over Charlotte on Wednesday.  Check our NBA betting odds preview for the match below:

Friday Night NBA Betting Odds: Take Cleveland Cavaliers to Beat Brooklyn Nets

Venue: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New YorkDate: Friday, March 27, 2015Time: 7: 30 PM ETTV: FSOH/ YESOpening Line: Cavaliers -8 

PHOTO: How Kevin Love informed the #Cavaliers organization that he won’t be returning next season —> http://t.co/krVC1C897r— NBA & NFL Rumors (@NBAandNFLInfo) March 27, 2015

 

Nets vs. Cavaliers Online NBA Betting Preview and Game Analysis

The last time Cleveland met the Nets at the Quicken Loans Arena nearly 10 days ago, the Cavs comfortably covered the NBA lines as 12-point favorites to win 117-92, outshining Brooklyn in all the major categories, including field goal percentage, rebounds and three-pointers. Since that win, the Cavs have bagged three back-to-back wins, including Wednesday’s 111-89 rout of Memphis, which consolidated Cleveland’s No. 2 position in the Eastern Conference standings.In the meantime, the Nets (who were 2.5 games behind the seventh and eighth playoff spots in the Eastern Conference when meeting Cleveland on March 18th) have won 2-of-3 games since losing to the Cavs and are now just half-a-game behind the eighth-placed Boston in the Conference standings. In that three-game span, center Brook Lopez has been the hottest Brooklyn player, scoring at least 26 points in all those game, including a game-high 34 points and 10 rebounds against Charlotte on Wednesday, and 31 points in their Monday loss to Boston.Unfortunately for the Nets, their star forward Thaddeus Young (who is also the team leader in steals at 1.3 SPG) left Wednesday’s game late in the third quarter due to a hyperextended knee and did not return. With Young currently marked as day-to-day in the roster, the Nets will be hoping that he’s able to heal in time for Friday’s game.In Young’s absence, the onus will be on Lopez (who leads his team in points at 16.3 PPG, rebounds at 7.0 RPG and blocks at 1.7 BPG), Deron Williams (team-leader in assists at 6.3 APG and recorded 10 points, 14 assists and 7 boards on Wednesday) and Alan Anderson (who added 13 points off the bench on Wednesday) to put in good minutes for the Nets (30-40, 3rd in Atlantic Division) this Friday.For the streaking Cavaliers (47-26, 1st in Central Division), who are impressively riding on a four-game winning streak and have won 8 of their last 10 games, there is a likelihood that their coach will rest some key players, bearing in mind that Cleveland has already qualified for the playoffs and the team doesn’t need all its stars to maintain the No. 2 position in the mildly competitive Eastern Conference standings.But even with the probability of some starters getting more time on the bench, the Cavs must be mindful of the fact that the Nets have won 5 of last 7 games and are fighting spiritedly to claim a playoff spot. Any laxities by James, Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving and the rest of the Cleveland team could therefore lead to an upset by the Nets.

Key Betting Trends

•    Cleveland is 6-2 ATS in its last 8 games and 8-1 SU in its last 9 games•    Brooklyn is 4-5-1 in its last 10 games and 5-2 SU in its last 7 games•    Cleveland is 5-1 ATS/SU in its last 6 road games•    Brooklyn is 0-4-1 ATS in its last 5 home games and 1-5 SU in its last 6 home games•    Cleveland is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games against Brooklyn•    Brooklyn is 5-1 SU in its last 6 home games against Cleveland•    The total has gone OVER in 6 of Cleveland’s last 8 games•    The total has gone OVER in 4 of Brooklyn’s last 6 games•    The total has gone OVER in 6 of Brooklyn’s last 7 home games against Cleveland

Writer’s Prediction

With or without their usual starters getting a lot of minutes, the Cavaliers have enough depth to cruise to a solid win plus cover over Brooklyn, with the total highly likely to go OVER.