LeBron James has absolutely owned the Eastern Conference over the years, and King James will begin his quest of leading his team to the NBA Finals for the eighth straight year when the Cleveland Cavaliers begin their first-round series with the Indiana Pacers on Sunday. The Pacers are a brutal 1-10 SU in their last 11 trips to Cleveland.
Sportsbook opened the wine and gold as 6.5-point home favorites with a total of 213.5.
- The Cavaliers are 15-3 SU in their last 18 games in the playoffs at home.
- The Pacers are 5-1 SU and ATS in their last six games vs divisional opponents.
- The total has gone OVER in four of the Pacers' last five games on the road vs the Cavaliers.
This is the second year in a row where the Pacers and Cavaliers have collided in the postseason, and strangely it was the Pacers who didn’t know which team they’d be playing in the first round until the Cavs lost to the New York Knicks in the final game of the regular season. This is the first time a James-led team has finished as a No. 4 seed since the 2008 Cavaliers. Cleveland has endured a rollercoaster of a campaign while doing its best to avoid rumors of James departing for another team in free-agency, but we’ve seen the Cavs hit another gear in the postseason many times before, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see them get off to a great start in Game 1.
The Pacers have been one of the biggest surprises in the NBA this year. When superstar small forward and face of the franchise Paul George was traded to Oklahoma City in the offseason, many fans and pundits thought the Pacers would be bottom-feeders, but that hasn’t been the case. Victor Oladipo, who came to the Pacers in the George trade, has enjoyed a career season in Indy. Indiana needs to capitalize on the Cavs’ poor defense, which ranked 29th in the NBA in defensive efficiency.
OVER bettors love seeing these teams play in Ohio, as the OVER is 4-1 in the past five matchups.
Sportsbook Odds & Computer Pick
Sports bettors looking to pick the Cleveland Cavaliers as their prediction for this matchup, they were listed earlier as -5-point favorites on the betting odds board at Sportsbook. Those betting on the total over/under for points scored have seen that line set at 217.5 for Sunday at shops such as Sportsbook.
Prediction-scoring formulas run on this game pick a potential 114-104 result in favor of the Cavaliers. View the computer score prediction and who will win the pick on the moneyline for all upcoming NBA matchups here.
Indiana Pacers vs Cleveland Cavaliers Matchup
Team Betting Records & Power Rankings
Cleveland battles the Indiana Pacers, currently with a 48-34 mark (47-35 ATS). The OVER/UNDER records, important for totals betting, are 40-40-2 for the Cleveland Cavaliers and 31-48-3 for the Indiana Pacers. Stay Informed: follow us on Twitter for odds specials, betting line moves and Cleveland vs Indiana injuries news.
It's a betting matchup between the No. 10-rated Cleveland Cavaliers and the No. 12-ranked Indiana Pacers, according to the NBA Power Rankings here at Odds Shark.
Statistical Matchup
Offensively the game matches up Cleveland's No. 5-ranked offense (110.87 PPG) against a Indiana Pacers defense that ranks No. 9 at 104.18 PPG. The Cleveland Cavaliers have averaged 47.61% from the field per game, more than the Indiana Pacers have managed so far this NBA season (47.24% on average).
Recent Outings Betting Recap
Indiana was run off the court by the Hornets on Tuesday as Charlotte blasted them 119-93 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Cleveland suffered a 110-98 loss against New York on Wednesday, getting 21 points from John Holland in a losing effort at Quicken Loans Arena.
- Indiana is 7-3 ATS in its last 10 games
- Indiana is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 16 of Indiana's last 22 games
- Indiana is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
- Cleveland is 10-3 ATS in its last 13 games
- Cleveland is 11-3 SU in its last 14 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Cleveland's last 9 games
- Cleveland is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games at home
Next Betting Matchups
Indiana at Cleveland, Wednesday, April 18th
