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Charlie Grant
Cavaliers vs. Pacers: Game 6 Prediction, NBA Playoff Odds
LeBron James rescued a win with a block and game-clinching, fade-away 3-pointer in Game 5 to put his Cleveland Cavaliers in the driver’s seat of their first round playoff series against the Indiana Pacers.
NBA Point Spread and Betting Analysis
The Cavs won for the third time this series but failed to cover the spread as 6.5-point home chalk. Cleveland is now 1-4 against the spread in the playoffs, 1-5 ATS in its last six games overall and 2-7 ATS in its last nine meetings with Indiana.
The news isn’t all bad for Cavs bettors. Cleveland is 11-4 against the number when getting points on the road this season. Then again, the Pacers are 19-8 ATS in their last 27 games as home favourites.
The under is the dominant trend as far as the total is concerned. The Cavs and Pacers are the two lowest-scoring teams this postseason and the under is a perfect 5-0 in the series and 7-0-1 in their last eight meetings.
About 64 percent of Sports Interaction bettors are expecting the Pacers to cover as 1-point home faves while 74 percent like the game to go over the 204-point total in Game 6. The Game 5 loss was a crippling blow for the Pacers chances of winning the series outright according to the Sports Interaction NBA futures board. Cleveland is now a -1111 favourite to move onto the second round while the Pacers are +500 to win the next two games and oust LeBron and Co.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Can we put to bed the arguments about LeBron James not having the clutch gene? James went a perfect 15-for-15 from the free throw line and nailed the game-winning 3-pointer as time expired. He has more career go-ahead shots in the final five seconds of playoff games (6) and postseason buzzer-beaters for the win than Michael Jordan according to ESPN Stats and Info.
Indiana Pacers
It is surprising Indiana has lost the last two games by a combined seven points considering how poorly Victor Oladipo is playing at the moment. The All-Star shooting guard is just 7-for-35 from the field over his last two games. Cleveland’s trapping defense is forcing Oladipo to give up the ball before he’s in a good position to attack the paint.
