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The Cleveland Cavaliers will host the Boston Celtics on Sunday night / Monday morning in the Eastern Conference finals Game 3, the Cavs leading the series 2-0 after destroying the Celtics twice in Boston.
Cleveland (2nd seed) didn`t have the best regular season after they won the NBA Championship last year, but they were always adamant about their capability to turn it on in the playoffs – and boy, did they step on the gas. Cleveland is 10-0 so far in the NBA playoffs, playing better and better as the postseason progressed. They were virtually unchallenged in the last 7 games or so and gave Boston an utter beatdown in the first two matches of this series.
The Celtics (1st seed) escaped from a dramatic series with Washington in the semifinals, winning Game 7 at home to barely edge that one. However, they might start wishing they lost that series given the way they were embarrassed so far in the East finals. Boston lost Game 1 against Cleveland by 13 points and proceeded to lose Game 2 by an incredible 44 point margin. What`s more, they just lost their star player Isaiah Thomas for the rest of the season.
Bet on Cavaliers vs Celtics and claim your 100% (100 Eur) freebet at Ohmbet now!Team news: Isaiah Thomas (Boston) sprained his hip in Game 2 and was just ruled out for the rest of the season, so the Celtics now have to do without their No.1 player.
Not only did Boston lose the first two games by 13 and 44 points at home, but the margins of defeat could have actually been much bigger. Cleveland utterly dominated each match right from the tipoff and only late garbage time saved Boston from defeats that could have easily beed +20 and +50 points in those two games.
Cleveland’s dominance didn`t come as a big surprise though. Not only are the Cavs a much better team, but they match up extremely well against the Celtics, as it was seen in the regular season. Boston lacks physicality and simply has no answer for Lebron James, an answer which they can not and will not find in Game 3. Plus, as things couldn’t get any worse, they now don`t have any reliable scorer after Thomas’ injury.
The current handicap line stands at 15 points and you have to feel it`s rather low. The spread is migrating towards 16 points and should get there sooner rather than later, maybe even get bigger. The Cavs should probably be 20+ points favorites in this one, but the bookies just can`t put up such huge margins in the NBA.
The Celtics will definitely be fired up after the embarrassments they suffered at home, but even if they come out and play their best, it might only be enough to avoid another 40 point loss. Plus, they were already fired up in Game 2 after being blown out in the first, but playing hard din`t help them at all – they got beat even worse than in Game 1.
Boston just doesn`t have the personnel, the quality, the physicality or the style to challenge Cleveland, and now without their best player they should lose by more than 20.
My tip is Cleveland to cover the 15 point spread. Cavs having a rare stinker and Boston dominating the last 5 or so minute of garbage time seem to be the only serious threats to this bet – but Cavs are unlikely to play a bad game at this point of the NBA playoffs, and they could well be comfortably ahead of the spread by the time garbage time comes. Prediction: Cleveland Cavaliers – Boston Celtics 119 – 97.
Pick: Cavaliers -15
Odds: 1.98 @ 1xBet
Stake: 9
Possible profit: 8.82
Event date: 22 May
