The NBA Playoffs continue on Tuesday night and we will see the Boston Celtics travel to Quicken loans Arena to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers in game 1 of their best-of-seven series. Free Pick to follow. The game has a start time of 7:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on TNT. Current Vegas betting odds have Cleveland listed as 11 point favorites, while the total is set at 207.
Analysis: The Boston Celtics came into he playoffs having won 6 games in a row, but they couldn't sustain that momentum as they lost 113-100 to the Cavs in game 1. Boston is one of two teams with an under .500 record in the playoffs and they may not be in the NBA's 2nd season for too long. Boston has gone 12-3 ATS in their last 15 road games vs. a team with a winning home record and 23-9 ATS in their last 32 when their opponent scores 100 points or more in their previous game. The Celtics have been an average offensive team this year, ranking 13th in scoring (101.4 ppg), 21st in shooting, 27th in 3 point shooting and 14th in FT shooting. Defensively the Celtics have not been great this year, ranking 21st in points allowed (101.2 ppg), 17th in defensive FG% and 4th in 3 point defense.
So much for all the talk about the Cavs struggling this year as they have shown that they are clearly the best team in the East and maybe in the NBA overall. Down the stretch lost two games to the Celtics, but they shook that off with a 13 point win in game 1. Cleveland Has gone 7-1 ATS in their last 8 when their opponent scores 100 points or more in their previous game, but just 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games following a SU win of more than 10 points. The Cavaliers have been a good offensive team this year, ranking 8th in scoring (103.1 ppg), 8th in shooting, 5th in 3 point shooting and 18th in FT shooting. Defensively the Cavaliers have been decent this year, ranking 13th in points allowed (98.7 ppg), 20th in defensive FG% and 9th in 3 point defense.
Pick: I am going with the Cavs just like I did in game 1. I just hope its a bit more of a blowout than it was in game 1. The Cavs are clearly the better team here and I feel that the Celtics are running out of gas after playing their butts off to claim a playoff spot. Jest too much Lebron and Irving to think that the Celtics can stay close to the spread again.
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