NBA Free Premium Play 04/09: Cleveland Cavaliers @ Indiana Pacers

Cleveland  at Indiana

NBA - 651 Cleveland Cavaliers @ 652 Indiana Pacers Projected Line: Indiana by 18 points We have a clear bounce back spot for the Pacers tonight, who got blown out of their last two games. So, I expect them to be fired up for tonight: After dropping their last two games by 22 and 19 points respectively, Pacers coach Frank Vogel said, "It’s back to the drawing board." He wasn't happy with their effort and mistakes on both ends of the floor. While fatigue has clearly been a factor, he hopes increased rest will have the guys rejuvenated for the final nine days of the regular season. "We played two poor basketball games, which I think was a little bit of a carry over from some bad practices leading into them. A big point of emphasis today is how you practice is how you play and I thought our guys came in with great, positive energy and had a great practice." – Frank Vogel "It’s a lot of things. We can call it fatigue. We can call it just not being sharp out there, a little lazy and not enough energy. Maybe, we all hit the wall for a couple games where we just didn't have a good show. We got to hold our head’s high, be proud of the Central Division title and try to build off of that to try and get that second seed." – George Hill on what went wrong in the last two games In my opinion, their loss against Oklahoma City was due to the lack of energy from the Pacers, especially in the fourth quarter. That's weird considering Indiana had 3 days off to rest prior to that game, while the Thunder was on a back to back spot. However, the Pacers's West Coast road trip was so tough that the Pacers weren't still physically at 100%. Indiana grabbed just 39% of the rebounds in that game, something that shows how tired they still were. In the following night, in Washington DC against the Wizards, the same happened. Indiana is a poor 3pts shooting team on back to back spots and they shot 2-21 and 3-20 3pts on their last two games! Tonight, Indiana should be more focused and especially rested, so I believe Cleveland will have no chance tonight. The Cavaliers are 2-0 on their last two games, but those games were played under very favorable conditions for the Cavaliers. Cleveland's lack of size and depth has been a problem for them all season long, but that wasn't a problem for them on their last two contests, as they defeated the shorthanded Celtics, who played with Chris Wilcox and Brandon Bass on the frontcourt, something that allowed Tristan Thompson to have a monster game: 10-17 FG, 29 points and 17 rebounds! On their last game, they faced Orlando, who has one of the least physical frontcourts in the league. However, the Magic still scored 50 points in the paint in that game! The problem for Cleveland tonight is that Indiana has one of the most powerful frontcourts in the league and with that, I expect the Pacers to have a huge edge on rebounds and on the down low. Cleveland would have to be incredibly efficient on the perimeter in order to be remotely competitive tonight, but Kyrie Irving is clearly struggling right now, as shown on his team's last two games, where he shot just 4-20 FG and 3-15 FG! Indiana will sweep the series against Cleveland tonight, after holding the Cavaliers's offense to 92.7, 90.5 and 97.4 offensive rates in the first three games of this series. I expect an easy win for Indiana tonight and so, I'll be taking them in here. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 652 Indiana Pacers (-13) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker