PREMIUM
Rogers' TOTAL MASSACRE (Friday) >> 4-0 Thursday! AMAZING 19-5 Run!
(NBA) Cleveland vs. Indiana,
Total: 204.00 | -105.00 Under
Result: Win
Total: 204.00 | -105.00 Under
Result: Win
The set-up: LeBron James capped off a 44-point, 10-rebound, eight-assist performance by nailing a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Cavaliers a 98-95 victory in Game 5 and their first lead of the series. No one can nor will dispute LBJ's gretaness but the Pacers have a real beef with what happened just prior to "The Kng's" buzzer-beater. LBJ's game-winner came right after he swatted away a dunk attempt by Indiana's Victor Oladipo at the other end, a play the NBA declared on Thursday should have been called a goal-tend. "It is what it is," Pacers center Myles Turner told reporters. "It was clearly a goal-tend. They didn't review it. There's not anything you can say about it. It's frustrating. It doesn't change the fact that LeBron still hit that game-winning shot, but it's still a pivotal moment in the game that I feel does need a review." A bigger issue for Indiana is Victor Oladipo, who started out hot in the series, but is struggling over the last three games. He was just 2-of-15 from the floor while scoring 12 points on Wednesday, making him just 12-of-50 (24.0%) over the last three contests after going 20-of-37 (54.1%) in the first two games.
Cleveland: Kevin Love added a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds on Wednesday and felt confident that his teammate was the right person to take the final shot. "We wanted to free up 'Bron as best we could," Love told reporters. Kyle Korver was the only other player to score in double figures with 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting for Cleveland. For teh series, LBJ is averaging 34.8 PPG. 23 points more per game than the team's second-leading scorer Kevin Love (11.8 PPG). JR Smith went scoreless on 0-of-8 shooting in 33 minutes on Wednesday, George Hill (back) has now missed the last two games and is questionable for Friday
Indiana: The Pacers were ahead 56-49 at halftime but the game turned in the third quarter when the Cavaliers opened with a 21-4 spurt to take a 10-point lead. Point guard Darren Collison said the Pacers can't dwell on the missed call or loss. "We've got to forget about it," Collison told Fox Sports Indiana. "You can't worry about what happened. That's not going to help us. We know (James) made a tough shot. We'll be prepared mentally coming in." Obviously, Oladipo needs to regain his shooting touch but Indiana has to like the fact that after scoring a total of just 17 points in the first three games of the series, backup center Domantas Sabonis has scored 41 off the bench in the last two games (on 17-of-24 shooting).
The pick: An LBJ-led team has never lost an opening round series (12-0) and the team may not lose this one. However, one can't ignore that the Cavs, although up 3-2 in the series, are 1-4 ATS. Also of note is the fact that series has gone "under the total" in all previous five games. I lean to the Pacers but will make the Over an 8* play.
Cleveland: Kevin Love added a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds on Wednesday and felt confident that his teammate was the right person to take the final shot. "We wanted to free up 'Bron as best we could," Love told reporters. Kyle Korver was the only other player to score in double figures with 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting for Cleveland. For teh series, LBJ is averaging 34.8 PPG. 23 points more per game than the team's second-leading scorer Kevin Love (11.8 PPG). JR Smith went scoreless on 0-of-8 shooting in 33 minutes on Wednesday, George Hill (back) has now missed the last two games and is questionable for Friday
Indiana: The Pacers were ahead 56-49 at halftime but the game turned in the third quarter when the Cavaliers opened with a 21-4 spurt to take a 10-point lead. Point guard Darren Collison said the Pacers can't dwell on the missed call or loss. "We've got to forget about it," Collison told Fox Sports Indiana. "You can't worry about what happened. That's not going to help us. We know (James) made a tough shot. We'll be prepared mentally coming in." Obviously, Oladipo needs to regain his shooting touch but Indiana has to like the fact that after scoring a total of just 17 points in the first three games of the series, backup center Domantas Sabonis has scored 41 off the bench in the last two games (on 17-of-24 shooting).
The pick: An LBJ-led team has never lost an opening round series (12-0) and the team may not lose this one. However, one can't ignore that the Cavs, although up 3-2 in the series, are 1-4 ATS. Also of note is the fact that series has gone "under the total" in all previous five games. I lean to the Pacers but will make the Over an 8* play.