[Bobby O'Shea]

I am really not a big writer and this may be full of typo’s but there are only two games in the NBA tonight, so I figured what the hell.

I use about 6 sites to gather information here is what they tell me today.

Recent Trends
Cleveland: • CLE is 3-0-1 ATS in their last four road games.
• Over is 3-1 in CLE last four road games.
Miami: • MIA is 4-2-1 ATS in their last seven home games.
Head to Head: • Under is 4-1 in the last five meetings.
• Home team is 4-2 ATS in the last six meetings.
• MIA is 7-3 ATS in the last 10 meetings.

The line: Oddsmakers have the Miami Heat listed as 6-point favorites.
The total: Has been set at 198 points.
Shaq Daddy`s free throw groove
Miami center Shaquille O`Neal hit an uncharacteristic 10 straight free throws in Sunday`s 101-95 win in Houston as 4-point favorites. The Big Aristotle finished the game 12-for-18 and is now 26-for-42 in his last three games. The Heat are 3-0 straight up and 1-1-1 against the spread during Shaq`s gains at the charity stripe.
Dwayne Wade said he knew Shaq was in one of his rare grooves on Sunday.
"He just comes back (from the line) with his eyes real big and gets in that trot," Wade told reporters. "That`s how you know he`s confident."
The Heat are 7-4-1 against the number when Shaq hits over 50 percent of his free throws. He is averaging 48 percent this season - the second lowest mark of his career.
Cleveland rocks
The Cavs entered Wednesday night`s game against New Jersey on a six-game winning streak, going 5-0-1 against the spread. It`s a run that`s vaulted them past Memphis for the NBA`s best record against the spread.
"When a big scorer like (guard Larry Hughes) goes down, others need to come in and pick it up," Cavs reserve forward Donyell Marshall said. "It took awhile, but we`ve done it."
Marshall has been one of the Cavs` surprise catalysts during their run. The 32-year-old journeyman is averaging 13.5 points and 6.3 rebounds in 27.8 minutes off the bench in the last six games.
Guard Sasha Pavlovic has also been key. Head coach Mike Brown originally slotted Damon Jones in to replace Hughes, then Ira Newbie, but only after Pavlovic earned the starting job has Cleveland flourished.
"There have not been a ton of adjustments," Brown told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "We`ve just found a combination we`ve all felt comfortable with."
Third string point guard seeing time for Heat
With point guard Jason Williams` status uncertian with a broken finger and 37-year-old Gary Payton unable to play max minutes, Heat head coach Pat Riley has turned over large portions of the offense to free agent rookie point guard Gerald Fitch.
"He reminds me a lot of (Raptors guard) Mike James when he was here his first year," Riley told the Florida Sun Sentennial . "We didn`t have a lot of confidence in Mike. It took a while."
Fitch played a season-high 26 minutes Friday night against Charlotte, scoring six points and adding two steals while turning the ball over only once. The 6-foot-3 former Kentucky star also pulled down eight rebounds.
Cavs suddenly road warriors
The Cavs` success has also coincided with their newfound ability to win on the road. The Cavs opened the season 7-9 against the number on the road, including just 1-6 as road underdogs. Since then, they`ve rolled off a 4-1-1 mark, including 2-0 as road underdogs.
"I`m not into moral victories, but I still believe on that road trip when we were losing we were playing decent basketball,`` Brown told the Ohio Beacon Journal. "We were doing some things the right way that if we continued to do sooner or later we`d break through."
**Cleveland at Miami**

-- Cleveland (27-17 straight up, 25-17 against the spread) won its seventh consecutive game Wednesday by holding off New Jersey, 91-85. The Cavaliers failed to cover the seven-point line, while the combined 176 points dipped ‘under’ the closing total of 188.

-- The Cavaliers are 5-6 SU and 4-6-1 ATS in the latter of back-to-back games.

-- The Cavs have been heating up again, going 7-0 SU and 5-2-1 ATS in their last seven games. The public’s favorite parlay combination of Cleveland/Over has cashed four times during this recent stretch.

-- Cleveland is just 10-12 SU and 11-10 away from home, with four of the victories coming in the current winning streak. The ‘over/under’ is 11-11.

-- The Cavs ran past the Heat 115-107 on Dec. 17 as two-point home favorites. The club shot 51 percent from the field, including 40 percent (11-of-28) from downtown in the victory. Lebron James dropped 41 points and 10 boards to boot.

-- After this game, the Cavs head home to host Philadelphia on Saturday.

-- Miami (28-18 SU, 22-23 ATS) extended its winning streak to three games Monday by holding off the L.A. Clippers, 118-114. The Heat failed to cover as 4 ½-point home favorites, while the combined 232 points jumped ‘over’ the closing total of 194 ½.

-- The Heat are 3-1 SU in their last four games, but just 1-3 ATS.

-- Miami has held serve at American Airlines Center this year, going 15-6 on the season. However, the team is only outscoring foes by an average score of 101-95 at home en route to a shaky 8-12 ATS mark. The ‘over’ is 12-9.

-- Despite the loss to Cleveland in December, the Heat have gone 5-2 both SU and ATS in the previous seven meetings against the Cavs. Also, Miami has won five straight home games against Lebron and company.

-- Following this tilt, the Heat will travel to New Jersey on Saturday.

-- Tip off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. EST, with TNT providing national coverage.
Tuesday night we saw an Eastern conference challenger rise up and knock off one of the main contenders as the New Jersey Nets snapped the Detroit Pistons 12-game win streak with a 91-84 win. Thursday night we get to see if another Eastern conference challenger, Cleveland, can do the same to another main contender, Miami.

There are some glaring differences in the two situations though. While New Jersey was at home the Cavaliers will be on the road. And while the Nets were rested going into their game with the Pistons, the Cavs will be playing the second night of a back-to-back set.

Ironically, the Cavs hosted the Nets last night, just one night after the Nets impressive win over the Pistons. The Cavs brought a six-game win streak into the contest and ran it to seven behind a Lebron James' triple-double. James scored 26 points -- 22 in the second half -- and added 11 rebounds and 10 assists as the Cavaliers moved 10 games over .500 for the first time since Feb. 23, 2005. The final was 91-85 as the Cavs got the win but not the cover as a 7.5-point home favorite.

The win improved the Cavs' record to 27-17. They are 10-12 on the road, even after winning their last four away from home as part of their seven-game win streak. But the four wins did not come against the caliber of competition they will face in Miami. The Cavs defeated Utah (108-90), Atlanta (106-97), Indiana (93-89) and Charlotte (103-91) on the road during the streak and took care of Phoenix (113-106) and the Pacers at home (96-66). The win over the Suns was perhaps the most impressive of the bunch as they overcame a first half deficit in that one to win going away.

Ironically, the Cavs began January by losing seven-of-nine as they adjusted to the loss of shooting guard Larry Hughes (broken finger). The downslide included six straight losses on the road. But then, just as suddenly, the Cavs have turned things around as Coach Mike Brown has gone to his bench and given more playing time to Damon Jones, Sasha Pavlovic, Anderson Varejao and Luke Jackson.

The Cavs are outscoring their opponents by better than four points/game on the season: 99.4 to 95.2. They win the battle of the boards each night by an average of 42.5 to 39.1 rebounds/game. Drew Gooden is the top rebounder at 8.9 caroms/game while the incomparable LeBron James leads the team in scoring (31.2 pts/game) and assists (6.3).

Meanwhile Miami has been off since Monday Night when it defeated the Los Angeles Clippers at home. The Heat tied a franchise record for a quarter by scoring 17 baskets in the first period, then made their final eight free throws -- including three by erratic Shaquille O'Neal, to post a 118-114 win. It was the third victory in four nights for the Heat, who have won five of their past six games.

That's the sort of surge coach Pat Riley seeks from his Heat, who have struggled against elite opponents.

"When is it going to start? That's the question I posed to them tonight," Riley said. "When are we going to start beating quality teams? It's time to put up or shut up. That's how I look at it."

The Heat snapped a five-game winning streak by the Clippers, who lost even though they tied their season-high point total. The win lifted the Heat to 28-18 on the season, best in the Southeast Division. They are 15-6 at home. The club began January by going a lukewarm 5-4 in its first nine games but then finished up with the 5-1 run. It began with home wins over Sacramento (119-99) and Memphis (94-82). Then came a loss to Phoenix (107-98) followed by a 2-0 record on a road trip to Houston and Charlotte and then the win over the Clippers.

The Heat have their own young superstar in Dwyane Wade who leads the club in scoring (26.8 pts/game) and assists (6.9). As Shaq plays himself into shape Udonis Haslem maintains his lead as the club's top rebounder, pulling down 7.5 boards/game. The Heat itself outrebounds its opponents by almost four boards per game (43.5 to 39.7) and outscores them by four points/game, too (100.2 to 96.2)

I don’t know if anyone can make any sense of this but it is good info.


Bobby