Boston Celtics vs Cleveland Cavaliers betting tips and predictions for Wednesday’s NBA game on ESPN. The Cavs look to go up 3-0 in the regular season series as they head to Boston for another date with the Celtics. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Boston Celtics
We don’t normally say this about the Celtics, but the pressure is on them tonight as they’ve now dropped to 2nd place in the Eastern Conference following Milwaukee’s win last night. The Bucks aren’t slowing down any time with their 15th win in a row, so the magnitude of tonight’s game has increased significantly now.
Interestingly enough, the two meetings this regular season between the two teams have both gone to overtime and it was the Cavs that kept their composure and won both by 9 and 1 point. Boston is coming off a tough road loss at MSG to the Knicks, in a game in which Jayson Tatum got his first career ejection. They were without Jaylen Brown due to personal reasons, he should be back in time for tonight’s game. At 13-2 SU in 15 home games, it’s pretty clear why the Celtics are 6.5-point favorites here.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland was able to end a 3-game losing streak with a win over the Toronto Raptors in their last game on Sunday. Donovan Mitchell dropped 35 points, including 8 threes, while Darius Garland added 18 and 11 assists. The Cavs are one of the rare teams that have dominated the Celtics in recent meetings going 5-2 SU/ATS, however when playing at the TD Garden they are only 1-6 SU in their last 7 visits.
There are no significant injuries to report, which is pretty rare for an NBA team as we go into March. As good as the Cavs have been this year, their road form has been their biggest issue. In 31 games played they’ve won only 13 times, plus as underdogs they are only 3-10 SU in 13 such games. Tonight’s game will be a true test of character, so it’ll be interesting to see how they respond.
Only 5 wins separate these two teams in the standings, and despite the Cavs leading the season series 2-0 I have to go with the Celtics here. They are one of the most dominant home teams in the league, with Jaylen Brown back they’ll be ready to avenge those 2 defeats from earlier in the year. Celtics to cover.
Boston Celtics vs Cleveland Cavaliers Predictions & Odds
A lot of defense is to be expected in this game, these are the 6th and 2nd best teams in the NBA in terms of defensive efficiency. Teams are scoring just 107.5 points per 100 possessions on the Cavs, while on the Celtics that number is at 109.4 points. The two meetings earlier in the year saw a ton of points scored, but that’s only because we saw an extra 5 minutes of basketball played in both of them.
An average of just 219.5 points per game has been scored in the last 10 meetings, that’s way below tonight’s projected total of 226.5 points. The under has also gone 4-2 in the last 6 meetings, that seems to be the popular bet in Cavs games vs East teams, with 8 of the last 10 games cashing on that bet. I think we’re in for a slower paced affair, back the under.
