Today in the NBA I will have a Free Pick in the game between the Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers, which will take place at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The game has a start time of 3:30 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on ABC. Current Vegas betting odds have the Cavaliers listed as 8 point favorites, while the total is set at 198.5.
Analysis: The Chicago Bulls have lost their lead in the division to Cleveland despite the fact that they have won 6 of their last 8 games, including a nice home win over Detroit on Friday night. Chicago is now 3 games behind Cleveland in the Central Division with a 46-30 record overall, which includes a 21-16 mark on the road. Chicago has gone 11-4 ATS the last 15 meeting, but just 2-8 ATS in their last 10 road games overall. The Bulls have been a decent offensive team this year, ranking 14th in scoring (100.8 ppg), 20th in shooting, 11th in 3 point shooting and 3rd in FT shooting. Defensively the Bulls have been solid, ranking 11th in points allowed (98.1 ppg), 6th in defensive FG% and 4th in 3 point defense.
All the early season talk of the Cavs being in trouble this year, because they just haven't gelled has been put to rest since January 15th. Since that date the Cavs have gone 30-7, with all 7 losses coming on the road. For the year Cleveland is 49-27 overall, including 28-9 at home and they currently have a 3 game lead over Chicago for the 2nd seed in the East. Cleveland has gone 3-4 ATS in their last 17 home games, but just 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games vs the Central Division. The Cavaliers have been a good offensive team this year, ranking 8th in scoring (103.5 ppg), 8th in shooting, 7th in 3 point shooting and 16th in FT shooting. Defensively the Cavaliers have been solid this year, ranking 12th in points allowed (98.4 ppg), 20th in defensive FG% and 6th in 3 point defense.
Pick: Going with the Cavs here. This team is playing like they are the best team in the East right now and i see this as a statement game for them. A blowout here would just show how strong this team really is. The Cavs will be facing a beat up Chicago team that just struggled with Detroit at home on Friday night. Cleveland has won 17 in a row at home and 14 of those wins have been by DD. This has not been a great series, ATS Wise, for the Cavs, but I feel they get the job done here with another DD home win an a game that could all but sew up the division for them.
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