Cleveland Cavaliers vs Miami Heat Betting Line

Ok boys and girls, here we go. We’ve got the most pointless, exciting game of the year here – a matchup every NBA fan has been waiting for. Tonight, Thursday, December 2nd, the Cleveland Cavaliers (7-10) host the Miami Heat at home, in what will surely be the loudest game at the Quicken Loans Arena so far this season.

LeBron James will be bringing his talents back home to an angry crowd looking to lynch their former star player. This is an interesting game from a betting perspective. The crowd will be loud and behind the home team like never before, possible more than a playoff game. Anger causes people to do funny things, and being LeBron’s first game back in Cleveland, things could get ugly. Emotions will be running high on both sides of the court, and this makes it a challenging game to predict.

Cavaliers vs Heat Betting Lines

• Bodog.com has the best line for the Cavaliers, at +5 1/2.
• Players Only and Sportsbook.com have the best betting lines for the Miami Heat, at -5.

The over/under for the Cavaliers/Heat game is set at 192 at Players Only and Sportsbook.com, but hasn’t been posted yet on Bodog. We’ll try to update this as soon as the over/under is posted at Bodog. If you prefer, go directly to the Bodog Sportsbook to view the most current betting lines.

Cleveland Cavaliers vs Miami Heat Free Prediction

To be honest, I won’t be betting on this game. In basketball, emotions can play a huge role in the outcome of a game. This is one of those games where any number of things could happen that would change the momentum of the game – making our normal analysis less relevant than a typical NBA matchup.

With that said, we know a lot of you are looking to make a bet on this game, and are looking for some advice. So, here we go.

First, since this is such a difficult game to predict, it’s a good idea to keep your bet smaller than normal. Risk fewer units on hard to predict NBA games, and keep your bankroll for more predictable ones.

With Cleveland at +5 1/2, it’s hard to bet against them at home. Here are some quick stats to go over:

• The Cavaliers are 4-5 at home, versus a 2-5 road record for the Miami Heat.
• The two teams the Heat beat on the road have a combined record of 11-26.
• The teams the Heat have lost to on the road have a combined record of 63-28.
• In the 5 road games they lost, the Heat lost by an average of 6.6 PPG.
• In the 2 road games they won, the Heat won by an average of 16.5 PPG.
• In the Cavaliers home wins, their opponents combined record is 33-40.
• In the Cavaliers home losses, their opponents combined record is 45-44.
• In the Cavaliers home wins, they’ve won by an average of 6 PPG.
• In the Cavaliers home losses, they’ve lost by an average of 11.2 PPG.
• The Cavaliers have won 3 of their last 4 games at home. Wins against teams with combined record of 19-36, and the loss to the Boston Celtics (14-4).
• The Miami Heat have won their last 2 games, but both games were at home against weak opponents with a combined record of 11-25 (Wash & Det).
• Miami played on Wednesday, meaning back-to-back games for them.
• The Cavaliers last game was on Tuesday, giving them one day off between games.

While Cleveland is -5 1/2, this game will likely come down to adrenaline – who has it and who doesn’t. Even if the Cavaliers players are friendly with LeBron before the game starts, it might not take much to piss someone off, including the fans. If this happens, the game could get taken into categories where stats and analysis don’t help.

While the Heat are clearly more talented, they’ve been losing to less talented teams all season long. The Heat are only beating bad teams right now, and losing to everyone else. If the crowd can inspire the Cavaliers players to step it up, the Cav’s could win this outright. However, if the Heat come out strong and can find a way to silence the crowd, the Heat could take it.

There is a lot of unknown that could happen in this game, mostly in favor of the Cavaliers imo. So, although I won’t be betting, if I was I would be taking the Cavaliers +5 1/2 at Bodog.com.

With the over/under set at 192, I would take the over at Players Only. When emotion takes over, offenses run the floor faster, and less emphasis is made on the defensive end. The Cavaliers will need to out-rebound the Heat, and they have the ability to do that. In the rebound category, the Cavaliers and Heat are 18th & 19th in the league respectively. At home, an aggressive Cav’s team should be able to control the boards, and this could be the difference in the game.

The Miami Heat will need Wade to step it up, as James could be looking to pass more often than normal. He’ll be expecting to be defended heavily, and if he can get the ball into Wade & Bosh’s hands, this could be their ticket to a win. With that said, Wade will need to get back on track scoring-wise, or the Miami Heat could be in for a long night.

The Heat played last night, beating the Detroit Pistons (6-13) by a score of 97-72. Wade scored 16 points in just 18:29 min’s played. If the game is close in the later stages, the Heat will need Wade to play more minutes against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

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