LeBron James & Cavaliers set to take on Hawks
LeBron James & Cavaliers set to take on Hawks
Adding the MVP trophy to his hardware collection on Monday, LeBron James now sets his sights on a bigger prize with the Cleveland Cavaliers set to host the Atlanta Hawks in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Tuesday. King James & Co. are prohibitive favorites to advance as -2300 chalk in this series, and double-digit favorites at home in Quicken Loans arena for the 8:00 p.m. tip on TNT.
The King has entered the building.
LeBron James has the world at his fingertips. His Cleveland Cavaliers are on what appears to be a collision course with the Los Angeles Lakers in what would be an epic NBA Finals matchup. James has also been named the league’s MVP, supplanting Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant for the honor of being considered the best in the game today. And he does it all with a winning personality that makes Michael Jordan seem uptight and corporate in comparison.
There’s some work to do before James and the NBA get their Finals wish. The next obstacle: the Atlanta Hawks, a team that nobody should treat lightly after they took the Boston Celtics to seven games in last year’s epic first-round series. Yet the betting odds have Atlanta priced at +1350 to advance past Cleveland (-2300) into the Eastern Conference semis and +11½ to take Tuesday’s Game 1 at The Q.
Those prices haven’t dulled the public’s appetite for LeBron and the Cavaliers. In the first 24 hours of betting, they pulled in 95 percent of the action for the opener with the over getting two-thirds support on a low, low total of 179.5. Defense is very much on the menu in this series; just like Bryant and Jordan before him, James has blossomed into one of the league’s top defenders, thanks in part to the tutelage of NBA Coach of the Year Mike Brown. The under was 45-36-1 for the Cavs during the regular season and 3-1 during their four-game sweep of the Detroit Pistons in the first round.
Atlanta has also enjoyed success this year with head coach Mike Woodson, another defensive specialist who assisted Larry Brown and the Pistons to the NBA title in 2004 – against Bryant and the heavily favored Lakers, no less. The under went a fairly tepid 42-38-2 before the playoffs; against the Miami Heat, Woodson and the Hawks put on the clamps and drove the under to a 5-2 record while winning the series in seven games.
All well and good, but the four games these teams played during the regular season tell a different story. While Cleveland won three of four, it was Atlanta cashing in three times as the underdog with the over at 3-1. The two games at Philips Arena speak volumes for what could happen in this series: The Hawks (+4) won 97-92 in December and lost 88-87 in March. James and the Cavs had relatively little trouble winning the other two matchups in Cleveland and missed going 2-0 ATS by just three points.
You might recall how the Hawks won all three of their home games against the Celtics SU and ATS during last year’s playoffs, while Boston went 4-0 SU and ATS at the Garden. Atlanta’s home/away split for the 2008-09 regular season follows the same pattern:
Playing defense takes a lot of energy, and at this level of play, having a raucous crowd of some 20,000 fans on your side does indeed make a difference. The Hawks had two particularly bad games against the Heat in Miami, but went 3-1 SU and ATS at home to advance to the second round. It’s not too difficult to conclude that Atlanta could be a very tasty pick once this series moves to the south.
But that all depends on how badly Atlanta gets beaten Tuesday night. Although the Cavs are incredibly good wherever they go, home cooking suits them just as well as it does the Hawks:
The chalk simply hasn’t been keeping up with the Cavs this year. They’re an amazing 38-20 ATS when favored by at least six points and 14-7 ATS when laying at least 11 points. The only remaining argument against Cleveland in this situation is the eight days off between eliminating the Pistons and facing the Hawks in Game 1. A bet on Atlanta here is a bet that James and the Cavs will come out a bit rusty, while the Hawks will be in rhythm after the standard single day of rest between games. There’s some value there; will it be enough?
Adding the MVP trophy to his hardware collection on Monday, LeBron James now sets his sights on a bigger prize with the Cleveland Cavaliers set to host the Atlanta Hawks in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Tuesday. King James & Co. are prohibitive favorites to advance as -2300 chalk in this series, and double-digit favorites at home in Quicken Loans arena for the 8:00 p.m. tip on TNT.
The King has entered the building.
LeBron James has the world at his fingertips. His Cleveland Cavaliers are on what appears to be a collision course with the Los Angeles Lakers in what would be an epic NBA Finals matchup. James has also been named the league’s MVP, supplanting Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant for the honor of being considered the best in the game today. And he does it all with a winning personality that makes Michael Jordan seem uptight and corporate in comparison.
There’s some work to do before James and the NBA get their Finals wish. The next obstacle: the Atlanta Hawks, a team that nobody should treat lightly after they took the Boston Celtics to seven games in last year’s epic first-round series. Yet the betting odds have Atlanta priced at +1350 to advance past Cleveland (-2300) into the Eastern Conference semis and +11½ to take Tuesday’s Game 1 at The Q.
Those prices haven’t dulled the public’s appetite for LeBron and the Cavaliers. In the first 24 hours of betting, they pulled in 95 percent of the action for the opener with the over getting two-thirds support on a low, low total of 179.5. Defense is very much on the menu in this series; just like Bryant and Jordan before him, James has blossomed into one of the league’s top defenders, thanks in part to the tutelage of NBA Coach of the Year Mike Brown. The under was 45-36-1 for the Cavs during the regular season and 3-1 during their four-game sweep of the Detroit Pistons in the first round.
Atlanta has also enjoyed success this year with head coach Mike Woodson, another defensive specialist who assisted Larry Brown and the Pistons to the NBA title in 2004 – against Bryant and the heavily favored Lakers, no less. The under went a fairly tepid 42-38-2 before the playoffs; against the Miami Heat, Woodson and the Hawks put on the clamps and drove the under to a 5-2 record while winning the series in seven games.
All well and good, but the four games these teams played during the regular season tell a different story. While Cleveland won three of four, it was Atlanta cashing in three times as the underdog with the over at 3-1. The two games at Philips Arena speak volumes for what could happen in this series: The Hawks (+4) won 97-92 in December and lost 88-87 in March. James and the Cavs had relatively little trouble winning the other two matchups in Cleveland and missed going 2-0 ATS by just three points.
You might recall how the Hawks won all three of their home games against the Celtics SU and ATS during last year’s playoffs, while Boston went 4-0 SU and ATS at the Garden. Atlanta’s home/away split for the 2008-09 regular season follows the same pattern:
- Home: 31-10 SU, 22-18-1 ATS, Under 23-18
- Away: 16-25 SU, 21-20 ATS, Over 20-19-2
Playing defense takes a lot of energy, and at this level of play, having a raucous crowd of some 20,000 fans on your side does indeed make a difference. The Hawks had two particularly bad games against the Heat in Miami, but went 3-1 SU and ATS at home to advance to the second round. It’s not too difficult to conclude that Atlanta could be a very tasty pick once this series moves to the south.
But that all depends on how badly Atlanta gets beaten Tuesday night. Although the Cavs are incredibly good wherever they go, home cooking suits them just as well as it does the Hawks:
- Home: 39-2 SU, 28-13 ATS, Under 24-16-1
- Away: 27-14 SU, 22-19 ATS, Over 21-20
The chalk simply hasn’t been keeping up with the Cavs this year. They’re an amazing 38-20 ATS when favored by at least six points and 14-7 ATS when laying at least 11 points. The only remaining argument against Cleveland in this situation is the eight days off between eliminating the Pistons and facing the Hawks in Game 1. A bet on Atlanta here is a bet that James and the Cavs will come out a bit rusty, while the Hawks will be in rhythm after the standard single day of rest between games. There’s some value there; will it be enough?