Pistons vs Cavaliers odds - Contender Cavs will crush Pretender Pistons

Seeing the Cavaliers vs Pistons odds for a playoff series might spark some great memories for online betting handicappers. However, the reality is that this year’s episode will look significantly different: The Cleveland Cavaliers have become a legitimate NBA Championship contender. They have locked up and secured home-court advantage throughout the entire playoffs, which is good news for a team that only lost once at home this season.

Pistons vs Cavaliers odds: LeBron is good enough to take Cleveland all the way

• WHO: Pistons vs Cavaliers odds
• WHAT: Best-of-Seven series
• WHEN: Game 1 date and time TBA
• WHERE: Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH
• KEY STAT: Cavaliers won season series 3-1
• THE PICK: Cavaliers in four

Cavaliers betting fans are still somewhat incredulous but General Manager Danny Ferry deserves a lot of credit. Obviously, LeBron James fell into the Cavaliers’ lap but, for many years, nobody believed that the Cavs were heading in the direction to become a Championship-caliber team.

The reality is that the Cavaliers have grown up as an entire team and will have no problems whatsoever disposing of the Detroit Pistons in the first round.

In the past, Anderson Varejao was just a scrappy bench player, Mo Williams was a selfish scorer, Zydrunas Ilgauskas was old and slow, Daniel Gibson was a one-trick pony and head coach Mike Brown was just decent.

Now Varejao nearly a double-double per game, Williams is an All-Star, Ilgauskas is still reliable, Gibson is a dangerous threat off the bench and Brown is one of the best coaches in the league.

The Cavs have organically cultivated a Championship team and all the while their centerpiece, James, has improved as well.

James might be averaging 1.6 less points per game this season, but his rebounds and assists per game are virtually identical. The difference is that James is playing almost three minutes less per game while still putting up the same numbers.

Sportsbook odds makers will set the line very high on the Cavaliers because they know that, while the Cavs have grown up into a Championship contender, the Pistons have regressed nearly to the point of missing the playoffs.

Pistons betting fans can’t be happy with the direction of their team. Just last season, the Pistons were among the best in the East but, after firing Flip Saunders, then trading away Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson, the team has nosedived.

It might be hard to believe, but on Jan. 4, the Pistons were 21-11. Since then, they’re 18-31.

Pistons odds aren’t very good for this series as the team can sense that the end is near. The wheels have come off the bus and veterans like Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace – guys who know what it takes to win a Championship – know that they just don’t have it this year.

CRAIG’S PICK: The Pistons have ended a few Cavaliers’ seasons in the playoffs before so don’t expect the Cavs to take them lightly. As for the Pistons, they just don’t have the right mindset heading into this series and they already know they can’t win it. Make Cleveland your basketball betting pick.

Check out the betonline.com Betting Edge as we preview thesports betting for all eight first-round series.

Craig Parsons is an avid sports fan, but his true love has always been basketball. Too short to realize his dream of playing in the NBA, he did the next best thing: sports betting and covering basketball for a living. Thoughts or questions?