Portland Trail Blazers at Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Opening Lines
Date/Time: Tuesday, December 08, 2015 7:00 PM ET Venue: Quicken Loans Arena Opening Lines: Portland +9.5 (-110), Cleveland -9.5 (-110) (Live Stream Options)
Amazing assists, -sized efforts and a whole lot of swish… See what made #CavsTV‘s cut in our latest TOP PLAYS! https://t.co/Jv8IGdTU07
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) December 7, 2015
LeBron James has taken to the media to talk about how his Cavaliers (13-7) team needs to be hungrier and more focused. Those pleas were not really taken that seriously, as those losses were coming at fairly infrequent intervals. People are now starting to pay attention, though, as the Cavaliers are coming off a week where they lost all 3 of their games. Yes, some of their early season woes can be directly tied to injuries, but there is also no denying that this team is not anywhere near the level they need to be at if they are to be considered a serious contender. There has to be a little bit of gloating going on in Miami, too, as the Heat have now overtaken Cleveland for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. With the Cavaliers shooting just 40% from the floor as a team, the decision to rest LeBron against the Heat seemed like an odd one, and it came back to bite them, as Miami rolled to a 99-84 win on Sunday. The Cavaliers need a much better week this time around if they don’t want to slip even further off the pace.
The last time the Trail Blazers (9-12) won a championship was back in 1977, which means there has been little to cheer about in Portland since then. That all changed with the Portland Timbers winning the MLS Championship on Sunday, and putting the Trail Blazers in the uncomfortable position of being the underachiever in the city. It has not been the best start to the year by Portland, but a couple of back to back wins to end the week should have them coming into this one feeling pretty good about themselves. They are in the midst of a 4-game road trip that will continue in Milwaukee on Monday before heading to Cleveland. It has been a bit of a struggle on the road for Portland this season, with just a 4-7 record to show for their efforts. This is a team that is starting to score, though, and that could present a problem for a struggling Cavaliers offense.
Key Betting Trends
- Cleveland is 3-5-1 ATS in its last 9 games when playing Portland
- Cleveland is 2-7 SU in its last 9 games when playing Portland
- The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Cleveland’s last 5 games when playing Portland
- Cleveland is 2-3-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing at home against Portland
- Cleveland is 8-3 SU in its last 11 games when playing at home against Portland
- The total has gone OVER in 5 of Cleveland’s last 6 games when playing at home against Portland
- Portland is 7-2 SU in its last 9 games when playing Cleveland
- The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Portland’s last 5 games when playing Cleveland
- Portland is 3-7-1 ATS in its last 11 games when playing on the road against Cleveland
- Portland is 3-8 SU in its last 11 games when playing on the road against Cleveland
- The total has gone OVER in 5 of Portland’s last 6 games when playing on the road against Cleveland