NBA Betting – Cleveland Cavaliers at New York Knicks
Cleveland Cavaliers (-7, 197 o/u) at New York Knicks
Tonight, the Cleveland Cavaliers will try to avenge their opening night loss to the New York Knicks (95-90) when they visit Madison Square Garden (8:00 p.m. Eastern).
The last year has brought sweeping changes to the Knicks organization. The 2014-15 season is the first full season for Phil Jackson as President; it’s also Derek Fisher’s first season as head coach. The new faces at the top brought in the much-discussed “triangle offense” which has proved hard for Carmelo Anthony and his teammates to master.
After a decent 2-1 start, the Knicks have won just two of their last 16 games (over fellow bottom-feeders Philadelphia and Denver, no less). New York is now 4-15 and riding a five-game losing streak.
Meanwhile, the Cavs were immediately thrust to the top of the NBA title futures when they signed LeBron James and Kevin Love. The new “Big Three” were a big disappointment in the early going, however, as the Cavs fell below .500 at several points. But it finally looks like things are turning around in Cleveland as the Cavs have won four straight, including a 113-87 dismantling of the 12-5 Wizards. The Cavs are now 9-7 on the year and just 1.5 games back of Central Division-leading Chicago.
Cleveland’s start is curiously similar to that of the Heat during LeBron’s first season in Miami. The Heat started 8-7 as James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh struggled to find chemistry. Cleveland fans can take comfort in knowing that, despite the slow start, chemistry was eventually formed and Miami went to four straight NBA Finals, winning two.
That’s no guarantee that James, Love, and Kyrie Irving will find the same chemistry and success, but it’s a good reason not to despair over a slow start.
The suddenly hot Cavs are seven-point favorites for tonight’s game and the total is at 197.
(Photo credit: Keith Allison from Baltimore, USA (AAAA0584) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)
Zack is a tour guide whose favorite sports are football, baseball, and golf. He enjoys giving obnoxious commentary during games and hopes to some day write a book about sports. His favorite underdog victory was the Diamondbacks beating the Yankees in game 7 of the World Series.
