The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Miami Heat will duke it out once again at the FTX Arena on Friday night.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have been on a nice run as they’ve won four of their last five games overall and they will be gunning for a fourth straight victory after sneaking past the Heat in a 104-100 road win on Wednesday. Darius Garland led the team with 25 points and seven assists, Donovan Mitchell added 18 points while Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen each scored 15 points. As a team, the Cavaliers shot 48 percent from the field and nine of 28 from the 3-point line as they held the Heat quiet in the second quarter to take the early lead, before they held the Heat to just three points in the final 2:43 to escape with the narrow win.
Meanwhile, the Miami Heat have been in poor form as they’ve lost seven of their last 10 games overall and they will be hoping to ounce back after falling just short to the Hawks on Wednesday. Jimmy Butler led the team with 28 points and five assists on eight of 14 shooting, Tyler Herro added 22 points with five assists while Bam Adebayo chipped in with 17 points on eight of 11 shooting. As a team, the Heat shot 50 percent from the field and eight of 29 from the 3-point line as they worked hard to claw their way back from a 12-point deficit, only to go cold and score just 18 points in the fourth quarter to come up short in the end.
Looking at the betting trends, the Cavaliers are 5-2 ATS in their last seven road games, 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games following a win and 4-1 ATS in their last five games overall. The Heat are 1-4 ATS in their last five games against a team with a winning record, 10-26-1 ATS in their last 37 home games and 5-16 ATS in their last 21 games overall.
Head to head, the under is 5-1 in the last six meetings overall, the Cavaliers are 3-13 ATS in the last 16 meetings in Miami and the Cavaliers are 6-13 ATS in the last 19 meetings overall.
The Cavaliers don’t have a single player listed on the injury report, while the Heat will again be shorthanded with Kyle Lowry ruled out once again. The Cavaliers have quietly been playing some of their best basketball of the season and it was their defense that was a difference in a close one on Wednesday. The betting trends definitely favor the Heat as the Cavaliers are only 3-13 ATS in the last 16 meetings in Miami, but the Heat have been struggling lately, so I’m expecting a similar result in this one.
AUTHOR: Peter Tran
