21 posts tagged “nba lines”
Cleveland -6 1/2 vs. Golden
Alternating wins and losses over their last four, the Cleveland Cavaliers have not been their usual juggernaut selves, however they have a great shot at turning around this trend by winning two straight against the 30-loss Golden State Warriors when the teams met up Friday night at Oracle Arena.
Cleveland (32-8) was defeated by the Los Angeles Lakers in the opening game of their western road trip 105-88, but they bounced back to defeat Portland 104-98. The victory over the Trail Blazers prevented Cleveland from losing two straight games for the first time all season. The Cavaliers are in close step with Boston and Orlando for the race for the best record in the Eastern Conference.
After being beaten up by the Lakers, the Cavs’ defense returned against the Blazers. Cleveland held Portland to 40.7 percent shooting one game after allowing their season worst 52.4 percent to Los Angeles.
Cleveland is leading the league in scoring defense by only allowing 89.6 points per contest. A matchup with Golden State may seem easy on paper, but the Warriors are averaging a little over 107 points per game and that is without their high-octane scoring guard Monta Ellis, who will return to the lineup for the first time this season on Friday.
The Warriors (13-30) will welcome back Ellis, who has been out while recovering from a sprained ankle from a scooter accident during the off-season. The relationship between the player and the team was strained when Golden State suspended him for 30 games without pay for the incident after the Warriors had signed him to a six-year $66 million dollar contract just prior to the accident. He was rewarded handsomely for his career year a season ago when he averaged 20.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists.
This will be the second and final meeting of the year between the clubs. Cleveland held Golden State’s potent offense in check in their first meeting November 28th in Cleveland. The Cavaliers won 112-97 and held the Warriors to 39.8 percent shooting. The Cavs have won four of the last five matchups and the last two at Oracle Arena.
Dallas -8 vs. New York
A once promising season for the New York Knicks now resembles many of their seasons of the last decade. The NBA and fans of the Knicks hopeful of a renaissance in Madison Square Garden may have spoke to soon as New York has dropped eight out of their last ten.
Some hope was reborn with New York (13-20) defeated Boston on Sunday, but the fact that the Celtics have been losing to everyone lately and the Knicks followed that victory with a devastating loss to the doormat of the NBA, the Oklahoma City Thunder, 107-99, on Tuesday. Any hope was deflated.
Thursday the Knicks can attempt their next rise from the ashes as they travel to Dallas to take on the Mavericks. It will be quite the uphill battle for New York who has not won in eight trips to Dallas, their last road win was in 1999. The Mavericks (21-13) also look to wrap up the two-game season sweep, having beaten the Knicks at MSG 124-114 in overtime on November 16th. A victory Thursday will give the Mavericks nine straight victories over the Knicks and victories in 14 of the last 15 matchups between the teams.
Dallas continues their stretch against some of the weaker teams in the league and while they have been victorious in most games, they have struggled, including overcoming double-digit deficits in wins over Minnesota and Philadelphia and a 20 point loss to the cellar dwelling Memphis Grizzlies.
Tuesday the Dallas Mavericks rebounded with a 107-102 home victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Dirk Nowitzki blocked a shot and nailed the game winner with under a minute to play. Dallas has now 11-2 in their last 13 home games. Still Dallas had to go on an 11-1 run to come back and win.
Los Angeles -7 1/2 vs. Miami
Winning has become so regular in Los Angeles that the Lakers even manage to win when some of their top players are sick. Tuesday night Lamar Odom was suffering from an upper respiratory infection but still managed to eclipse his season high of 17 points and 12 boards to help his team edge the New York Knicks 116-114 at the Staples Center. Odom was pressed into service after Pau Gasol was at home watching the game on television due to strep throat.
Odom is feeling better and will play when the Lakers (21-3) set out on a four-game eastern road trip starting Friday night in Miami. Gasol did not practice on the off days and his return against the Heat is questionable. With or without their star center, Los Angeles will look for their fifth straight victory and 15th in their last 17 games.
Injuries have not hampered the Heat's best players this season, but that has not stopped Miami (12-12) from struggling, especially lately. Miami looks to snap a three-game losing streak against L.A. after they lost to the Bucks 98-83 at home. Dwayne Wade struggled mightily Monday night, making only five of his 16 shots from the field, finished with a pedestrian 15 points.
Wade was not the only Heat star to sputter against Milwaukee. Udonis Haslem only netted two points and is averaging a miniscule 5.3 points and 31.6 percent shooting over the last three games.
The Lakers swept the two-game season series a year ago and have won four out of the last five over the Heat. Los Angeles has also won three straight in Miami, the Heat's last win came in 2004.
Denver -1 vs. Cleveland
LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers are playing so well this season that they are gaining fans wearing the opponent's jerseys in the stands. As the Cavaliers wrapped up their 20th victory in 22 games Wednesday in Minnesota, the beleaguered Timberwolf faithful watched their team lose their 11th game in a row, they remaining fans gave James a standing ovation for his performance in the 93-70 victory for his team. James was being lauded for his 32-point game.
No one expects a similar scene from a contending team, especially from the Denver Nuggets fans who have seen James and the Cavs as a sort of rival since James and the Nuggets Carmelo Anthony came into the league in the same 2003 draft class.
Two of the NBA's red hot teams will clash Friday night in the Pepsi Center. The Nuggets (17-8) look to rebound from a 108-96 road loss to Houston and look to avoid losing two games in a row for the first time since Chauncey Billups joined their squad. The loss in Houston snapped Denver's four-game winning streak, but the club has still won eight of their last 10 and is 16-5 since the trade which brought Billups back to his hometown.
While Denver is hot, no one has been hotter than Cleveland (21-4), who saw their 11-game upswing broken by Atlanta last Saturday. They will attempt to start another streak tonight when they play Denver, a team they have already beaten once this season 110-99 in a November 13th game in Cleveland.
The Cavs have emerged as the NBA's best defensive team by allowing a mere 89.2 points per contest while the Nuggets defense has steadily improved since Billups' arrival. A season ago, Denver allowed 107 points per game, second from last in the league. This season they have shaved a hearty nine points off their average and have held opponents to 42.7 percent shooting, leaving them third in the NBA behind Boston and Cleveland.
The Nuggets had a lapse in their stellar defense when they allowed the Rockets to score 108 points in their 108-96 setback Tuesday night. Anthony netted 22 points for Denver, while Billups was held to 8.
Cleveland has not fared well in Denver, losing three straight there. Their last victory in the Pepsi Center came in 2004.
Portland -4 1/2 vs. Phoenix
The fans in Portland may hold current Suns' coach Terry Porter in high esteem, but he will be vilified if his team can continue its winning ways by beating the hometown hero Trail Blazers Thursday night.
Porter helped the Blazers to two NBA finals appearances in his 10 seasons in the Rose Garden. He now will step into those surroundings as the suddenly surging Suns (15-10) look for their third straight win and fifth win in six games. It was a special few nights for Porter as Monday night his Suns spoiled the return of Mike D'Antoni by beating the visiting New York Knicks 111-103 in Phoenix. Then Tuesday he was honored in the Rose Garden as Portland retired his number 30 while the fans gave him a standing ovation.
While that is a great honor, Porter may be more proud of his team's recent play. Steve Nash scored 21 points as the Suns topped 110 points for the fourth straight games. This is quite an offensive turnaround for a team who averaged 99.9 points per contest through the first 20 games of the season in the transition from D'Antonio's high flying offense to Porter's more balanced attack. The win over the Knicks was all the more impressive considering Shaquille O'Neal was out of the lineup for the second straight game due to a death in his family. O'Neal is expected back for Portland.
Perhaps the legend of Porter helped the Blazers (16-10) in their destruction of Sacramento 109-77 on the night in which the former player was honored. Brandon Roy netted 29 and followed up his career-best game of 38 against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday. Joel Przybilla grabbed 14 rebounds in the game and Portland led in that category 59-38. That is Portland's highest board total since a December 2004 contest against Boston.
The Portland Trail Blazers will look to beat the Phoenix Suns for the first time in 10 games Thursday night.
Orlando -2 1/2 vs. San Antonio
With or without Dwight Howard, the Magic continue to win. Orlando has not started a season this hot since 1994-95, when they started 22-5 and made it all the way to the NBA Finals, the only appearance for the nearly 20-year old team. Nonetheless, they will be very happy to have their All-Pro forward back for tonight's home game with San Antonio.
The game with the Spurs opens a four-game home stand for the Southeast Division attic dweller Magic (19-6). Howard has missed the last two games for Orlando with a knee injury, but the Magic won both, including their last game, 109-98 at Golden State Monday night. Rashard Lewis picked up the pace without Howard by scoring 21 points, five assists and eight rebounds while Jameer Nelson ruled the court with 32 points in the win over the Warriors.
The NBA's renaissance story this season has been the San Antonio Spurs (15-9). Hampered by injuries and bad play, the perennial power sputtered out of the gate at 0-3 and lost five of its first seven. As players have come back from injuries and slowly regained form, the Spurs have regained theirs, winning 10 of their last 14. They lost their last time out to New Orleans largely because of they misfired on 17 of their final 21 shots and only hit at a 38.3 percent clip from the field.
The loss to the Hornets halted the Spurs six-game winning streak, but they look to get on track against the Magic, a team they have had a lot of success against over the years. San Antonio has beaten Orlando in 10 of the last 13 games and have won the last three straight, including both games last season. The Magic have not beaten the Spurs in Orlando since April 2006.
Detroit -8 vs. Philadelphia
The Philadelphia 76ers organization simply must have the Detroit Pistons firmly residing in their head. The Pistons have been responsible for a handful of recent playoff exits for the Sixers, they stole their coach, Larry Brown, who promptly won an NBA championship in his first year in Detroit and now the Pistons have perhaps the most iconic Philadelphia basketball player in two decades on their roster.
Allen Iverson has played against Philadelphia while in Denver, but this game may be more meaningful now that he is a member of an Eastern Conference Rival. The 76ers drafted Iverson as the first pick in the 1996 draft and watched him grow into a bona-fide star. He took the sagging franchise back up to some of its former glory and won the Eastern Conference in the 2000-01 season. Philadelphia traded Iverson in 2006 as they fortunes began to once again sag.
There will be no better way for Philadelphia to start excising Detroit out of its mind than beating them on the road tonight when the teams meet up at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
The Pistons (11-6) have been a streaky team since acquiring Iverson on November 3. They lost their first two with Iverson in the lineup. They then won four of five, including a road victory over the previously undefeated Lakers, but are now currently in a funk in which they have dropped three of their last five. Detroit hopes their effort against San Antonio a few nights back will put them back on the right track. The Pistons beat back a Spurs halftime lead and held them to only 32 second half points to get the road win 89-77.
Philadelphia may yearn for the golden days of Iverson as they will be missing their new franchise player, Elton Brand, for tonight's game with a strained hamstring. Brand suffered the injury in Wednesday's 114-103 loss to the Lakers.
This will be the first meeting of the season between the 76ers and Pistons. The teams split their four regular season games a year ago, with both teams winning on each others' court once. They also met in the first round of the postseason last year with the 76ers claiming two of the first three games only to watch the Pistons win three straight to take the series in six games.
Denver -4 vs. San Antonio
Just how good can the Denver Nuggets get? The team seems to be jelling and winning in better and more complete ways every game and it seems their prized commodity has finally arrived.
When the Nuggets made the trade for Chauncey Billups, they expected the perennial All-Star who lead Detroit to the 2004 championship and was named Finals MVP that season. For the first month, they did not see that Billups. But his presence made the difference in turning a 1-3 team into a 13-6 team. Now in the midst of a three-game winning streak, Billups has clearly arrived and has been the best player for the Nuggets during the stretch.
Denver just destroyed the Raptors 132-93 Tuesday. Billups had 24 points and 14 assists in the rout. Billups is averaging 26.3 points per contest in the three-game winning streak in wins over Toronto, Houston and Minnesota. Carmelo Anthony contributed 23 against Toronto as well.
While the Nuggets enjoyed the ride in their last game, the Spurs (9-8), who visit Denver Thursday night, could not have played any worse in their last game Tuesday night. The Spurs lead at half time by five, but collapsed in the second half, scoring 32 and falling 89-77 to Detroit at home.
Manu Ginobili returned to the starting lineup for the first time this season but the rust was clearly a factor as he only netted 13. Tim Duncan has 23 and Tony Parker contributed 18 in the losing effort.
The teams met November 19 in a game also played in the Pepsi Center. Denver won that contest 91-81 and has won three of the last four.
Los Angeles -4 1/2 vs. Phoenix
It seems it is always a big deal whenever Shaquille O'Neal goes up against the Lakers. O'Neal usually has a lot to say about Kobe Bryant, Phil Jackson and the rest of his former, and perhaps, future team. During the buildup to the game O'Neal mentioned that he may like to end his career Laker. Pardon Los Angeles if they did not get very excited since at 8-1, they are doing just fine without him. He went further to say that the trouble that he and Bryant had were fueled by Jackson.
With the Shaq-Kobe-Phil drama the sideshow, the real story should be that the top teams in the Pacific Division are meeting up in Phoenix as O'Neal's Suns (8-4) welcome in the Lakers.
Los Angeles has moved on in the big man world when they acquired 7-footer Pau Gasol last season. Gasol helped power the Lakers through the tough Western Conference into the NBA Finals and is averaging 17.6 points and 10 rebounds per game. Andrew Bynum who was injured through the Lakers playoff run has returned this season as well, contributing 10.8 points and 8.9 boards per contest.
The Lakers suffered their first loss of the season on Friday to Detroit at the Staples Center but was able to bounce back nicely with a 116-109 win against the Bulls. In that contest Gasol eclipsed his season-high of 34 points and Bynum has 18 points, nine boards and three blocked shots.
O'Neal perhaps has done more talking that playing well this season. He has been fined twice this season, totaling $60,000 for hard fouls and altercations. On the court he has struggled at times, including the Suns 109-97 loss at Utah Monday night in which O'Neal had only one rebound for the first time since 1999.
The last time the teams met was the first time that O'Neal met the Lakers in the rival Suns' uniform. Shaq and the Suns lost 130-124. Overall Los Angeles has won three of the last four meetings. Phoenix was winless in both home games against the Lakers last season. This season Los Angeles is the lone perfect road team in the NBA at 4-0, while the Suns are a pedestrian 3-2 at US Airways Center.
Boston Celtics -7 vs. Detroit Pistons
At some point as the Detroit Pistons continue to knock of the NBA's hottest teams, they must be considered the NBA's hottest team. Last night Detroit put a stop to division rival Cleveland's eight game winning streak with a 96-89 victory at the Palace of Auburn Hills. On the slate for the Pistons is a trip to Boston to play another one of the league's top and hottest teams, the defending champion Celtics.
The Pistons (8-3) have had their struggles against Boston lately. The Celtics ousted Detroit in the Eastern Conference Finals in six games last season and they lost the first game versus Boston this year in Detroit 88-76 in Allen Iverson's home debut November 9. Over the last nine games, including postseason the Celtics have won seven.
After going 0-2 with Iverson, Detroit has roared out to win four out of their last five. Friday night they gave the Lakers their first and only loss of the season, but they followed that stellar victory with a disappointing loss to Phoenix Sunday night. The Celtics will hope history will repeat itself.
Boston (10-2) is the first team in the league to double digit victories and look just as good as the team that took it all last season. Tuesday night, the Celtics even played without Kevin Garnett and still were able to beat the Knicks 110-102. Garnett had been suspended for one game for a flagrant foul against the Bucks' Andrew Bogut in Saturday night's overtime victory for the Celtics. He will be back for Detroit.
In the first game the Pistons struggled mightily by shooting a season low 34.7 percent against the Celtics stellar defense. Detroit was actually held under Boston's defensive statistics of 39.9 percent shooting and 90.7 points per contest.
Despite their struggles overall against the Celtics, the Pistons were the only team that won a game in Boston during the playoff's last spring. This season Boston is 6-1 at home while Detroit is 5-2 on the road.
