Heat overcome Cavs in OT

Basketball Betting Lines

04/06/2007 - Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Kapono's three-pointer late in overtime gave Miami a lead it never relinquished as the Heat edged Cleveland, 94-90, and clinched a playoff berth at Quicken Loans Arena.

Antoine Walker scored 20 points and was 6-of-8 from three-point range for the defending world champions, who remain the four seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race and moved 1 1/2 games ahead of the idle Washington Wizards in the Southeast Division.

Shaquille O'Neal also scored 20 points and pulled down eight rebounds, while Udonis Haslem had 15 points.

LeBron James had a game-high 35 points and nine rebounds for the Cavaliers, who fell 3 1/2 games behind Detroit in the Central Division. Cleveland also surrendered the No. 2 seed to idle Chicago. Although the teams are tied with identical 45-31 records, the Bulls hold the tiebreaker.

Larry Hughes, Aleksandar Pavlovic and Drew Gooden all added 14 points for Cleveland.

Gooden's put-back, with 2:25 left in the extra frame, gave the Cavs their first lead since the second quarter, 87-85.

Kapono answered, however, with his big three. The sharpshooter buried the triple from the right wing to put Miami back on top, 88-87, with 1:23 left.

After Alonzo Mourning erased Pavlovic's layup attempt, Haslem connected on a pair of free throws at the other end to give Miami a 90-87 advantage with 37.2 ticks left.

Jason Williams then came up with a big steal and hit 1-of-2 from the line to seemingly seal things.

James did manage another three but Miami knocked down three free throws in the waning seconds to seal things.

The Heat entered the fourth quarter with a comfortable 13-point cushion but the whistles started to go Cleveland's way early in the frame and the Cavs quickly got back into it. Donyell Marshall's three from the left corner capped a 7-0 burst that made it a 75-70 game with 5:54 left in regulation.

Walker finally stemmed the tide by drilling his sixth three of the night on the ensuing possession and Kapono then stuck another three, with 3:49 remaining, to make it 83-72.

Less than 20 seconds later, the three-point parade continued when James knocked down another to give the Cavs some hope, 83-75.

A pair of free throws by James, with 2:03 on the clock, then made it a two- possession game, 83-77.

Miami couldn't buy a bucket the rest of the way and Cleveland continued to climb back in it at the line. The Cavs went to the charity stripe on three straight possessions and made every freebie, the last two by James deadlocked things at 83 with 42.4 ticks left.

After James Posey missed a running left-handed layup, the Cavs had a chance to win things with 10.9 seconds left. But, inexplicably, James didn't drive to the basket and settled for a desperation three at the buzzer that came up empty.

Game Notes

Miami was 11-of-26 from long range and Cleveland managed just 4-of-16...Miami is now 16-22 on the road this season...The Cavaliers fell to 27-11 at home.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

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