NBA Spreads: Cleveland Cavaliers at Los Angeles Lakers
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
The Los Angeles Lakers will look for their fifth straight win when the host the struggling Cleveland Cavaliers tonight. Los Angeles crushed the New York Knicks 109-87 on Sunday, and it appears this team is starting to find its form again. The same can not be said for the Cavaliers. Cleveland lost 108-100 at Phoenix on Sunday, and have now lost 20 of their last 21 games, including 10 straight and 16 in a row on the road. Our NBA spreads have the Lakers favored by 15 points over the Cavaliers at home.
Looking for a great place to do your NBA betting this season? Sports Interaction is offering a special 100% sign-up bonus on your initial deposit!
Rarely will you see a team favored by15 points, but with the way these two teams are playing, it shouldn’t come as that much of s surprise, especially after the Lakers just beat the Knicks by 22 points at home.
The Cavaliers lost Anderson Varegjao for the season with a torn ankle tendon, and are also ithout guard Daniel Gibson and forward Leon Powe.
Because the Cavs have been so bad this season, they have been able to give some of their younger players more minutes, and rookie Manny Harris is starting to show flashes of what he could bring to this team. After scoring 16 points and 10 rebounds against the Warriors, Harris scored a career-high 27 points against the Suns.
Cleveland also got a big game out of J.J. Hickson, as he scored 23 points and grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds. With Varegjao done for the year, the Cavaliers are going to need Hickson to be a force on the boards.
The problem for Cleveland is even when they do have a good night offensively, they are so bad on the defensive side of the ball that it doesn’t even matter. The Cavaliers are allowing just over 108 points over their last seven games, and its hard to imagine they will slow down the Lakers in this one.
Making things even harder on the Cavaliers is the fact that the Lakers are playing extremely well on the defensive side of the ball right now. Los Angeles is holding their opponents to just 90.5 points during their four game winning streak, and if they decide to bring it tonight, they should have no trouble shutting down a Cleveland offense that averages just 94 points a game.
Pau Gasol seems to be getting things going offensively again, as he scored 20 points and grabbed 14 rebounds against the Knicks. Gasol has scored 20 points or more in three of the last four games. Gasol had reached the 20 point mark just once in his previous eight games.
I think if you decide to bet on this game, you have to strongly consider laying the 15 points on the Lakers, as the Cavaliers have no body inside that can compete with Bynum and Gasol, and we haven’t even mentioned Kobe Bryant.
For more help with who to take in the NBA this season, check out what our experts have to offer in their daily NBA picks.
Got something to say?
