The Indiana Pacers opened their first-round series by taking the lumber to Cleveland on their own home floor, jumping out to a 20-point lead in the early going and then holding on for a 98-80 win. In his postgame interview, LeBron James pointed out that a 1-0 lead in the opening round was not intimidating, since he had led the Cavaliers back from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals two seasons ago. However, the King was clearly sulking at points in Game One and playing subpar defense, so the effort from the Cavaliers needs to be better all the way around for the team to even this series. Check out our NBA lines preview as the Cavaliers look to go to Indianapolis for Game Three with the momentum.
Indiana at Cleveland Game 2 NBA Lines & 2018 Playoffs Pick – April 18th
When: Wednesday, April 18, 2018, 7:00pm ETWhere: Quicken Loans Arena, ClevelandTV: TNTRadio: ESPN The Fan 1070 AM Indianapolis / WTAM 1100 AM ClevelandLive Stream: CBSSports.comNBA Lines: Cleveland -8, O/U 209
Why should you bet on the Pacers?
Indiana came into this game playing well, having won 8 of 11 to close out the regular season. Victor Oladipo continued to show the form that has him the favorite in the voting for Most Improved Player, as he put up 32 points, six boards, four assists and four steals, nailing six shots from beyond the arc. Myles Turner chipped in 16 points, and Bojan Bogdanovic added 15. The team shot well — but not spectacularly so — on the night, making 45 percent of their shots from the field.
The most impressive part of the Pacers’ Game One win was their hustle from the opening tip. They came into the Q looking like the hungry team. Remember that Cleveland finished their regular season splitting a home-and-home with the Knicks, basically letting LeBron continue his double-digit scoring streak before taking him out so he could rest in a game that, if the Cavaliers had won, could have pushed them into the third seed if the 76ers would have lost (and both games were taking place at the same time). That shifting effort that we see with the Cavaliers needs to get into playoff mode in a hurry, because the Pacers are already there.
Why should you put your money on the Cavaliers?
Lost in the shock of Indiana’s first win (breaking a 21-game winning streak for LeBron James’ teams in the first round of the playoffs) was a solid performance from James, according to the numbers. He put up a triple-double, scoring 24 points, dishing out 12 assists and pulling down 10 rebounds. J.R. Smith had 15 points, and Larry Nance Jr. finished with 10 points, but they were the only three Cavaliers to hit double figures in points. Shooting was a problem for Cleveland, as they made just 38 percent of their shots from the floor — and went just 8 for 34 from downtown. While a lot of that early deficit came from some opportunistic Pacer defense, a lot of it came from the fact that the Cavaliers were just clanking a lot of their open looks in the early going.
Cleveland is good at flipping the switch and playing offense at a scorching level. If the game slows down to a halfcourt crawl, as Game One did, the advantage will stay with Indiana. However, if Cleveland can push the action and make some shots, they should get the game going their way instead of falling into the Pacers’ trap once again.
Expert Pick and Final Score Prediction
I think an eight-point spread here is pretty large. Let’s look at the numbers — Indiana has covered the spread in five of their last six games at the Q, and in 14 of their last 20 games overall. In Eastern Conference play, they have covered in 13 of their last 18 games. While I think Cleveland will come out and make a bunch of their shots early, Indiana will fight their way back and make it a close one. I’m predicting a final score of Cleveland 114, Indiana 109 — with the Pacers covering.
