Miami Heat vs Cleveland Cavaliers betting tips and predictions for Friday’s NBA game on NBA TV. The Cavaliers and Heat close out their regular season series, just 48 hours after their game in South Beach which went the Cavs way. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Miami Heat
A win here would be big for the Miami Heat as it would ease off a lot of pressure coming from the Atlanta Hawks who are 1.5 games behind them in the standings. The Heat didn’t have the best of games on Wednesday as they turned the ball over 22 times in the 4-point loss against Cleveland, failing to cover as 2-point underdogs at home.
That was a surprising turn of events, especially considering that Miami had previously won 19 of the last 20 meetings between the two teams played in South Beach. Tonight is a new game though, and I fully expect head coach Eric Spoelstra to make the necessary adjustments here as they try and level the regular season series which the Cavs lead 2-1 at the moment. Although they’re just 14-18-1 ATS at home this season, they do have 21 wins in 34 games at Miami-Dade Arena so I’m expecting a positive response after Wednesday’s loss.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Although they got just 18 points from Donovan Mitchell and scored just 9 threes on 28 attempts, the Cavaliers were still able to steal one on the road. They’re on a really solid stretch at the moment having won 4 of their last 5 games, but it doesn’t get any trickier than tonight’s match-up with the Heat. In the last 19 meetings the Cavs have covered the spread just 6 times, plus they’re also just 5-13 SU in the last 18 games against them.
The good news is there are no significant injuries on the Cavs roster at the moment, which is a rarity in the NBA entering the month of March. Darius Garland put up 25 points on Wednesday, I’m interested to see if he can repeat that performance here with the focus on the entire Miami defense now shifting on to him.
With 4 wins in 5 games the Cavaliers are the more in-form team, so why not back them to defy the odds once again here? The oddsmakers still have them as favorites in this game, they’ve covered the spread 8 times in their last 11 games vs East teams. Take Cleveland.
Miami Heat vs Cleveland Cavaliers Blazers Predictions & Odds
Scoring isn’t the biggest forte of either of these two teams and that has been on display in all 3 meetings so far this season. The under cashed in all 3 of those games with an average of just 200.2 points per game scored. Wednesday’s game finished 8 points under the projected total with both teams barely clearing the 100 point mark.
Cleveland has gone 15-18 on the O/U on the road so far this season, while the Heat are 16-18 on their home floor. As we get closer and closer to April, NBA teams will try and slow down the tempo as they prepare for the postseason. These two teams both rank in the top 5 in defensive efficiency, so I’m expecting a similar game to the one we saw Wednesday. Let’s back the under.
