Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA
Cleveland Cavaliers vs Boston Celtics Game 2: Eastern Conference Playoffs – Second round
The Boston Celtics are looking for another win when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers at TD Garden on Thursday.
Does Cleveland stand any chance in this series?
The Cleveland Cavaliers somehow made it past the Orlando Magic, but had a tough start in the opening game against the Boston Celtics. The Cavs lost every single quarter of Game 1 and have yet to win a road game in these playoffs. Donovan Mitchell had a solid day, scoring 33 points in Game 1 on 12 of 25 shoting from the field. Evan Mobley finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Darius Garland added 14 points.
The Celtics are the top favorite to win it all
The Boston Celtics had the best regular season record and had an easy start to the series with a 120-95 win. They shot 48.9% from the field and made 18 three-pointers in Game 1. Jaylen Brown led the way with 32 points, followed by Jayson Tatum with 18 and Payton Pritchard, who added 16 off the bench.
Betting Trends
Boston has won 14 of the last 20 games against Cleveland and 6 of their last 8 head-to-head games have gone over the total point line. The Celtics have won 7 of their last 8 games overall and 18 of the last 20 home games. They have played over the total point line in 12 of their last 15 games against teams from the Eastern Conferenc. The Cavaliers have lost their last 7 games on the road and 10 of the last 11 played in Boston. Cleveland has played over the total point line in 10 of the last 14 games against teams from the Eastern Conference.
Prediction and Conclusion
The Celtics once again showed their dominance in the opening game of the series, not givingthe Cavs any chance to come even close to winning the game. The Cavs were among the top five defensive teams in the regular season, but the Celtics dropped 120 points on them. Both teams combined for only 11 turnovers in the opening game. Things will not go that smoothly in Game 2, as the Cavs will pick up their defense and be more competitive. The total point line has been set much higher than in the previous game at 211.5 points, and that is a line that will stay untouched in Game 2, so we go with the under.
