Nick "BookieKiller" Parsons
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS -15
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]We're going with a public favorite here, but for a number of different reasons I believe the Cavaliers will look to bury the under manned Warriors:
The Warriors just dealt their second leading scorer in Stephen Jackson and are also without a number of its starters; Kelenna Azubuike suffered a patella tendon injury in the first quarter of their 129-125 loss to the Bucks (a game where rookine Brandon Jennings poured in a double-nickle [55]) and could be done for the season.
Centers Andris Biedrins (right groin and abdominal inflammation) and Ronny Turiaf (sprained knee) are out, as is power forward Brandan Wright (shoulder), leaving Golden State with Mikki Moore and Anthony Randolph as its only healthy big bodies.
Too add insult to injury; Golden State always struggles on the road at the Quicken Loans arena; 3-13 ATS its last 16 in Cleveland.
On the other side of the court: Shaq is most likely sitting in this one; James was held to 21 points after averaging 34.3 in the previous three games, but he scored seven in the final 28.8 seconds as the Cavaliers beat the Jazz 107-103 for their fourth straight win on Saturday.
After an atypical rough start, the Cavaliers have rebounded and I believe they'll continue to build momentum; not only is Cleveland 4-2 ATS its last six overall, but its also 7-1 SU its last eight.
Bottom line: Too many factors working against the Warriors today and after Lebron and the starters put this one out of reach, look for Cleveland's bench to make a strong showing down the stretch as they'll all be expecting some game time today; look for CLEVELAND to move to 4-1 ATS its last five vs. good offensive teams that average 99 plus points per contest and for the Warriors to fall to 2-3 ATS this year as an underdog.
*7* CAVALIERS.[/FONT]