NBA – Cleveland at New Jersey
One of the things bettors can never be sure of is the sign of maturity for an inexperienced NBA playoff team
2007-05-14
NBA Basketball Betting
One of the things bettors can never be sure of is the sign of maturity for an inexperienced NBA playoff team. If the team is relatively young and light on NBA postseason experience, it is often like having a pair of dice in your hand playing craps; you never know what might turn up. This was exactly what supporters of Cleveland got in Game 3 at New Jersey. Game 4 of the series is Monday night, with the Nets again playing host.
Cleveland went to Meadowlands and figured to face a Nets club with its three veteran players that would be stoked to get back in series. The Cavaliers first challenge would be to match the intensity of New Jersey and to make adjustments in the game to offset what Lawrence Frank and his staff might do. After cutting the Nets on the boards for the first two games 100-69, Cleveland did not deliver the fire needed. New Jersey not only did a better job on the boards, they did so decisively in wiping the glass with 43-30 edge. The Cavs have a decided edge in what their big people can do against the Nets and the trio of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Drew Gooden and Anderson Varejao did not show up.
LeBron James quickly had the wrong mindset in Game Three. The Nets game plan was to take away all his baseline moves and double and even sometimes triple team him depending on his floor position. James became passive and made the decision to play point guard, collecting 12 assists. While this is a great number, is does not help his team when he fails to score 20 points for the first time in his NBA playoff career. Maybe Mike Brown’s team was due for a weak effort after winning 10 in a row, but the disturbing lack of killer instinct was apparent. The Cavs will have to regroup in a hurry against a team that is 13-5 ATS as a home favorite of 3.5 to 6 points this NBA Betting season.
New Jersey’s Jason Kidd put on a show like only he can is knocking down another triple-double. When he make shots Kidd makes the Nets especially dangerous, as passing lanes open up even wider. If the Nets can employ a similar defense on James and his gang they would once again fall into New Jersey’s web that is 15-4 ATS versus teams who average 53 or more rebounds a contest.
No doubt James will be more aggressive; however with the support of the home crowd, New Jersey can still deliver as 3.5-point favorites according to Bookmaker.com. The Nets are 10-2-1 ATS in last 13 games and 5-1 against the spread with one day of rest.
The burden of proof falls to Cleveland as they caught a break with Detroit losing at Chicago yesterday. The Cavs are 7-2 ATS off a straight up loss. If Cleveland is to be taken seriously by bettors and NBA betting fans alike, they play like a team with true title aspirations tonight.
This important contest can be seen on TNT starting 7:05 Eastern.
StatFox Power Rating – New Jersey by 2.
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