VW'S NBA WINNER #18 OF 30 (+$3.7K IN 24 DAYS)
- Handicapper
- Vegas Writer
- League
- NBA
- Competition
- Cleveland Cavaliers vs Miami Heat
- Release Date
- 04/26/2025 08:49 AM
- Event Date
- 04/26/2025 01:07 PM
- Bet Type
- Point Spread
- Pick
-
Cleveland Cavaliers -5.5 (-108)
(DraftKings)
- Outcome
- Win
- Analysis
- The youth movement continues to gain ground in the NBA with one half-dozen or so younger teams making huge leaps this season. Near the very top of that list are the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are a shoo-in to jump out to a commanding 3-0 lead in their Eastern Conference Playoffs first-round series with the Miami Heat when Game 3 tips today in South Beach.
Cleveland went up 2-0 after posting a 121-112 Game 2 win at home on Wednesday. We love to talk about the length and versatility of bigs Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, but you also have to stop and appreciate the leadership of Donovan Mitchell. The all-star is averaging 30 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists so far in this series and is a lock to earn another All-NBA honor in the coming days.
Not to be outdone, Mobley walked away with Defensive Player of the Year honors yesterday.
Unfortunately, Miami’s only counter to the Mitchell effect is Jimmy Butler, and he left the team at the All-Star break, taking all of the Heat’s hopes for the season with him.
Miami has now dropped four of its last seven games overall and nine of its last 13 at home. And speaking of the Kaseya Center, the Heat rank a solid 8th in scoring defense at home at 110.2 points per game, but even that’s not going to be good enough to slow this balanced Cavaliers squad that leads the league in scoring (121.9 ppg).
Miami actually never got hot this year, even though it won eight of 12 down the stretch, their best run over that many games this season. When it’s all said and done, the Cavaliers will grab their fifth straight win over the Heat since the end of January, and second straight in Miami, and will find themselves just one win shy of a series sweep.
