Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Miami Heat: Betting Preview, Matchup Stats
The Cleveland Cavaliers will continue their charge for the second seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race when they host the Miami Heat as big favorites on the NBA betting lines at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com Thursday night.
The Cavaliers went 11-4 straight-up and 8-7 against the spread in the month of March to take command of the Central Division over the second-place Chicago Bulls, while the Heat have dropped four of their past six games both SU and ATS to put themselves at risk of not making the playoffs for the first time since 2008.
Cleveland has just seven games left in the regular season and will play the Bulls next on Sunday in a matchup that could help the team move one step closer to capturing the Central title. The Cavs have gone just 2-3 versus the number in their last five games, despite winning four of them, following a stretch in which they went 4-1 SU and ATS.
The Cavs have surprisingly lost two of their three meetings with Miami this season—with all three decided by double digits—even though they were favored on the NBA betting lines in each matchup.
The Heat had won the Southeast Division four straight years after former and current Cleveland star LeBron James took his talents to South Beach to team up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. But Wade is now the only one of the Big Three currently playing for Miami, as James is back with the Cavs and Bosh is out of action due to a blood clot in his lung.
The Heat are already guaranteed to have their worst season since going 15-67 seven years ago and remain in a battle for one of the last playoff spots in the East heading into their betting matchup with the Cavaliers on Thursday.
Cleveland's last four losses have each seen the team give up 105 points or more, with the under cashing for totals bettors in the past three, including a 106-92 setback at Miami on March 16 in the most recent game between the teams.
However, in each of the previous five wins for the Cavaliers, they surrendered 92 points or less, with the total going over three times. The Heat have seen the under go 6-1 in their last seven games overall, according to the OddsShark.com NBA Database.
