The Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics meet for the second time this NBA betting season on Thursday night at the Boston Garden in a game that can be seen on TNT. The teams have not met since opening night when the Celtics won 95-89. Both teams are coming off wins as Cleveland ended a three-game losing streak with a win over New Orleans on Tuesday while Boston won at home against New York even though leading scorer Paul Pierce did not play.
Cavaliers are a 2.5 point favorite at SBG Global with a total of 193.
Boston was able to survive on Tuesday without Pierce who sat out due to the flu and a sore thumb. He is questionable tonight. Rajon Rondo had 15 points and had 16 assists in the win over the Knicks while Ray Allen had 24 points. Marquis Daniels filled in for Pierce and had 14 points.
The Cavaliers got 20 points and 13 assists from LeBron James as they defeated New Orleans on Tuesday. Antawn Jamison scored 18 points in his first start and the Cavaliers ended their three-game losing streak. “It feels good to get one,” Jamison said. “It wasn’t pretty, but those are the games you have to find a way to get a victory and we found a way to do that.” Even though the Cavaliers won, they were not happy with the way they played defensively. “We’re definitely not where we want to be [defensively] right now,” Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. “Everybody feels it and we’ve got to fight through it.” The Cavaliers still have the best record in the Eastern Conference and LeBron was not worried about the losing streak. “There’s 82 games in the regular season. You’ll have ups and downs,” James said. “We’ve had way more ups than downs. We have the best NBA betting record in the Eastern Conference and one of the best records in the league. You can go two or three games where you don’t win a game. That’s not our worries.
The Cavaliers are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall. The Cavaliers are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 vs. the Atlantic. The Cavaliers are 6-2 ATS in the last 8 meetings in Boston.
The Celtics are 16-34-1 ATS in their last 51 home games. The Celtics are 2-7 ATS in their last 9 games overall. The Celtics are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 vs. the Central.
The Over is 5-2-1 in the Cavaliers last 8 overall. The Under is 6-2 in the Celtics last 8 overall.
