A six-game road trip comes to a close for the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night against the Houston Rockets, and live bettors will surely be licking their chops for what could end up being a great spot for the hosts.
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SCHEDULING
The poor Cavaliers have everything going against them in this one. They have to be weary having played six road games in a span of just 10 nights, and the fact that they're going up against San Antonio on Thursday makes this even worse. Cleveland is an awful team as it is with no rest at just 1-4-1 ATS and -4.3 points per game in relation to the spread, but this really only makes the situation that much worse.
The Rockets meanwhile, are just chilling at home. They're in the midst of a relatively tough stretch of five games in seven days, but this is only the third of those games, and it comes with a day off after what should be a relatively easy game at home against Minnesota on Wednesday.
KEY MATCHUP
Can LeBron James really will his way to a win at the tail end of a grueling stretch of schedule?
We know that a 25-year old LeBron would've been able to do it, but at this point in his career with as much tread as he has on his tires, we're not all that sure. Heck, we're not even that sure that James is going to play in this game, as this would be a great spot to get him a breather for the night, especially if the game in San Antonio on Thursday ends up being as tough as expected.
In fact, live bettors should hate the fact that James is shooting just 44.4 percent from the field on games in which he hasn't had any rest and just 26.9 percent from beyond the arc. He also averages 4.0 turnovers per game, far off from his overall average of 3.4 per game.
The Rockets don't really have the right pieces in place to defend James one-on-one, but with Dwight Howard waiting in the paint to charge on those isolation plays, we aren't sure how effective the Chosen One is going to be.
KEY STATS & TRENDS
Houston is one of the streakier teams in the NBA, but live bettors have to like the fact that it has covered three games in a row and won four straight. The defense is really making the difference, holding three of its last four foes to 94 points or fewer, and the one which got into triple digits was aided by overtime.
The resurgence of Howard as an almost guaranteed double-double every night is a big help, as he has six straight double-doubles to his credit. We'd like to see more blocks as live bettors in this one though, as he has just one block in his last four games combined.
The Cavs have won eight straight games, but they're not doing anything very convincingly, going just 3-5-1 ATS in their last nine games combined.
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