David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA
Boston Celtics vs Cleveland Cavaliers Game 3: Eastern Conference Playoffs – Second round
The Boston Celtics are visiting the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
The Celtics are still the top favorite to win it all
The Boston Celtics had the best regular-season record and are seen as the main favorites to win the championship. They made a statement in the opening game of the series with a 120-95 win, but the Cavs responded in the same way. The third quarter was crucial, as the Celtics had a poor shooting percentage, and coach Joe Mazzulla put in the second unit in the middle of the final quarter. Jayson Tatum scored 25 points in Game 2, followed by Jaylen Brown with 19.
Does Cleveland stand a real chance in this series?
Things didn’t look promising at all for the Cleveland Cavaliers after the first game of the series, but they played excellent in the next one, and now they are taking the seires home with a tied score. The Cavs shot 54.7% from the field and 46.4% from deep in their best performance in the playoffs. Donovan Mitchell dropped 29 points, followed by 21 points and 10 rebounds by Evan Mobley. Caris LeVert had a great game, coming off the bench with 21 points.
Betting Trends
Cleveland has won 8 of their last 9 home games and 6 of the last 7 against Boston at home. The Cavaliers are 2-5 ATS in the last 7 games overall, 2-6 ATS in the last 8 games against teams from the Atlantic Division and 4-9 ATS in the last 13 games played in May. The Celtics are 4-1 SU in the last 5 games overall and 7-2 SU in the last 9 games against teams from the Eastern Conference. They are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall, 5-0 ATS in the last 5 games played on Saturday and 3-6 ATS in the last 9 games against Cleveland.
Prediction and Conclusion
The Boston Celtics came into the playoffs as the top favorites to win the championship this season. Just like in the first round against Miami, the Celtics lost Game 2 at home. Even though the Cavaliers won by 24 points, the Celtics have nothing to worry about. They are definitely the better team and know what they exactly need to do to regain control in the series. Cleveland has been a tough destination for the Celtics in recent years, but all that is changing tonight as the Celtics are taking a 2-1 lead.
