The following preview is taken from www.elitesportsinvesting.com. Later in the day, a preview of Miami/New Jersey will be up on the site as well. There is also a pay-after-you-win Side and Total for today's Cavs/Pistons Game 1 available. All free and pay-after-you-win plays come with ESI's trademark analysis which combines multiple factors and is so much more than the simple trends and overly-manipulated systems you see elsewhere in the industry.
All ESI documented results are available at www.sportswatch.ws.
Cleveland at Detroit
Prediction: Detroit in 5
Power Rankings Detroit 98.5, Cleveland 94
The Pistons won 3 out of 4 this season from Cleveland, including three straight by double digits in which they held the Cavs to under 80 points. Worth noting that Cleveland swingman Hughes did miss 2 of the losses, and the 3rd, about a month ago, came with Lebron James limping and Cleveland already locked into the East's 4th spot in the playoffs. Still no denying the ease with which the Pistons won those games, or the fact that they come in the fresher team as the Cavs are off B2B overtime games in the last 5 days. Detroit has been lying in wait since an easy home win Wednesday night where they rested starters in the second half. This series features the NBA's best home team in Detroit (37-4) and the NBA's 4th best in Cleveland at 31-10. Totals players note that 10 stratight matchups between these two have played UNDER the total.
Cleveland has two things going for it in this series. The first is rebounding as they are a top 5 NBA team in rebounding margin at +3.0, while the Pistons suprisingly are a slightly negative rebounding team. The Cavs must get more out of C Ilgauskus as he was a non-factor in the Washington series. Fatigue could be an issue for the Big Z, but he will definitely be needed inside against the Wallace boys. The other of course, is Lebron James. He is becoming the type of player in close games, you simply do not want to handicap against. He makes things happen no matter how well he is defended, and was unbelievable in the second half of the season and the Washington series. He is a monster matchup even for the tenacious Detroit defense. Young James and the Cavs have really grown up during the second half of the NBA season, and are a legit top 10 NBA team. Playing defense on the road is still a problem for the Cavs as they allow an ugly 100 ppg and 47% from the field away from the Q. They are Jekyl & Hyde at home, where they allow 91 ppg on 42% from the floor. This defense will really be tested by the Detroit offensive attack.
What, Detroit offensive attack? That's right, the reasons that the Pistons are even better than the last two seasons is their offensive improvement under Flip Saunders led by the flawless play of PG Billups. Billups is going to be a very tough matchup for the Cavs, as PG Snow isn't the defensive player he used to be, and backup PG Jones cannot guard anyone. SG Murray may get the assignment. Detroit is the NBA's best halfcourt passing team. The starting 5 is totally unselfish, rarely force a shot, and turn the ball over a league low 11 times/game. They also lead the league by having 67% of their made field goals assisted, and that category is not even close. When you combine all of this with the fact that they are among the NBA's best fast break teams when they choose to run, and an awesome offensive rebounding team, the Cavs really have their hands full. Cleveland allows nearly 37% from behind the 3 pt. arc, and Detroit is a top 3 NBA 3 pt. shooting team at 38%.
Defensively, the Pistons are actually a bottom half NBA team allowing 45% from the floor. Where they make up for this is at the free throw line and at the 3 pt. line, where they allow absolutely nothing. Teams attempt a league low 21 FT/game vs. the Pistons, and shoot for a league low 32.5% behind the arc on a mere 12 attempts/game (2nd best in the league). The Cavs are not overly dependent on 3 pt. shooting, but they will not get to the FT line 29 times a game like they did in the Washington series. In fact, the Cavs will feel like they are playing against 6-7 defenders after playing 6 games against the porous Wizards. It will also be interesting to see if they can maintain the 77% FT clip from the charity stripe that they shot against Washington after shooting only 73% during the regular season. That FT shooting was huge considering they won 3 1 pt. games in that series.
The Pistons, along with the Spurs and Suns are the league's highest basketball IQ team. Cleveland is not bad in that capacity either, but they simply don't have the playoff experience or depth that Detroit does. They are capable of beating any team in this league on any night, but over the course of the series, the Pistons will be too good and too deep. Simpy cannot see the Cavs winning in the Palace. 6 games is possible, but for now, I'll call it Detroit in 5
All ESI documented results are available at www.sportswatch.ws.
Cleveland at Detroit
Prediction: Detroit in 5
Power Rankings Detroit 98.5, Cleveland 94
The Pistons won 3 out of 4 this season from Cleveland, including three straight by double digits in which they held the Cavs to under 80 points. Worth noting that Cleveland swingman Hughes did miss 2 of the losses, and the 3rd, about a month ago, came with Lebron James limping and Cleveland already locked into the East's 4th spot in the playoffs. Still no denying the ease with which the Pistons won those games, or the fact that they come in the fresher team as the Cavs are off B2B overtime games in the last 5 days. Detroit has been lying in wait since an easy home win Wednesday night where they rested starters in the second half. This series features the NBA's best home team in Detroit (37-4) and the NBA's 4th best in Cleveland at 31-10. Totals players note that 10 stratight matchups between these two have played UNDER the total.
Cleveland has two things going for it in this series. The first is rebounding as they are a top 5 NBA team in rebounding margin at +3.0, while the Pistons suprisingly are a slightly negative rebounding team. The Cavs must get more out of C Ilgauskus as he was a non-factor in the Washington series. Fatigue could be an issue for the Big Z, but he will definitely be needed inside against the Wallace boys. The other of course, is Lebron James. He is becoming the type of player in close games, you simply do not want to handicap against. He makes things happen no matter how well he is defended, and was unbelievable in the second half of the season and the Washington series. He is a monster matchup even for the tenacious Detroit defense. Young James and the Cavs have really grown up during the second half of the NBA season, and are a legit top 10 NBA team. Playing defense on the road is still a problem for the Cavs as they allow an ugly 100 ppg and 47% from the field away from the Q. They are Jekyl & Hyde at home, where they allow 91 ppg on 42% from the floor. This defense will really be tested by the Detroit offensive attack.
What, Detroit offensive attack? That's right, the reasons that the Pistons are even better than the last two seasons is their offensive improvement under Flip Saunders led by the flawless play of PG Billups. Billups is going to be a very tough matchup for the Cavs, as PG Snow isn't the defensive player he used to be, and backup PG Jones cannot guard anyone. SG Murray may get the assignment. Detroit is the NBA's best halfcourt passing team. The starting 5 is totally unselfish, rarely force a shot, and turn the ball over a league low 11 times/game. They also lead the league by having 67% of their made field goals assisted, and that category is not even close. When you combine all of this with the fact that they are among the NBA's best fast break teams when they choose to run, and an awesome offensive rebounding team, the Cavs really have their hands full. Cleveland allows nearly 37% from behind the 3 pt. arc, and Detroit is a top 3 NBA 3 pt. shooting team at 38%.
Defensively, the Pistons are actually a bottom half NBA team allowing 45% from the floor. Where they make up for this is at the free throw line and at the 3 pt. line, where they allow absolutely nothing. Teams attempt a league low 21 FT/game vs. the Pistons, and shoot for a league low 32.5% behind the arc on a mere 12 attempts/game (2nd best in the league). The Cavs are not overly dependent on 3 pt. shooting, but they will not get to the FT line 29 times a game like they did in the Washington series. In fact, the Cavs will feel like they are playing against 6-7 defenders after playing 6 games against the porous Wizards. It will also be interesting to see if they can maintain the 77% FT clip from the charity stripe that they shot against Washington after shooting only 73% during the regular season. That FT shooting was huge considering they won 3 1 pt. games in that series.
The Pistons, along with the Spurs and Suns are the league's highest basketball IQ team. Cleveland is not bad in that capacity either, but they simply don't have the playoff experience or depth that Detroit does. They are capable of beating any team in this league on any night, but over the course of the series, the Pistons will be too good and too deep. Simpy cannot see the Cavs winning in the Palace. 6 games is possible, but for now, I'll call it Detroit in 5
