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New Orleans Pelicans will try to reach the .500 win/loss mark today with a win over a Cavaliers side that might miss the best player in the world.
I was expecting a little more from the Pelicans to be honest, especially with Anthony Davis playing at an MVP level. The hosts have a decent 10-11 record (6-2 home) but it`s not quite good enough for the Western Conference and the most worrying fact is that New Orleans has been constantly abused by the top teams like Golden State, LA Clippers and so on. Last time out they put on a good performance at Dallas and lost by only 5 points, but still lost. Obviously the Pelicans rely too much on Davis and their starting 5, the bench is too weak and Eric Gordon missing is not helping.
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Cleveland (13-8, 6-3 away) started the season slow after the signings of Lebron, Love and hiring a new coaching staff. However the team has started to play great basketball lately, coach Blatt`s system is working, the players have acquired chemistry. Cavs won 8 in a row before losing to Oklahoma City the other night, but Cleveland was just 3 points behind with two minutes to go against a super strong team – pretty impressive considering they played without Lebron, and Irving was also limited in minutes. Lebron is questionable for today, Irving has a small knee problem but he said he will play.
Listen, if Lebron plays this, Cleveland will no doubt become a big favorite and these odds we are seeing now will become huge value. If he doesn`t things are different – but I still expect Cavs to have a slightly better chance to win than New Orleans. They are in great form and if they challenged OKC in similar circumstances, they can surely beat the Pelicans. Being back to back on the road will not help, but that can only hurt you to some extent and Cavs have a young team. My tip is Cavaliers to win, hopefully Lebron will play (I reckon he will) but i think it`s still a 55-45 match for Cavs if he doesn`t, so the odds are clearly worth a shot. No point in taking any spread here in my opinion, go with the straight Cavaliers win. Prediction: New Orleans Pelicans – Cleveland Cavaliers 98-105.
Pick: CLE Cavaliers
Odds: 1.87 @ Unibet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 6.96
Event date: 13 December
