Sunday, March 14, 2010 – Free NBA Pick
Boston Celtics (41-23) at Cleveland Cavaliers (51-15), 3:30 p.m. EST, TV: ABC
The Boston Celtics, the first-place team in the Eastern Conference’s Eastern Division, travel to play the Cleveland Cavaliers, the first-place team in the Eastern’s Central Division.
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The season series between the two teams is tied at 1-1.
NBA fans were doing a double take last week when the Celtics lost by 20 points to the Memphis Grizzlies in Boston in what may have been one of the more eye-opening defeats of the season. The Celtics have played with little consistency or urgency this season, however, playing the Cavaliers tough at Cleveland or even getting a win could change things around for Boston’s season, so expect Doc Rivers to have his team mentally focused for this one. Another important thing to consider is that Boston is just beginning to play as a team — they are all healthy and with the trade deadline passed their team is what it is going to be for the rest of the season. They may just be figuring each other out right now and their best basketball might be ahead of them.
Meanwhile, Cleveland is nothing to mess with. LeBron James missed two games with an ankle injury and came back to lead the Cavaliers to a win over the Philadelphia on Friday with 23 points, 10 assists and six rebounds. And if you saw his highlight-reel reverse dunk … yeah, I think that ankle is just fine, and it seems more and more like Cleveland coach Mike Brown used a non-injury just to get his star player some much-needed rest. LeBron will be geeked to have Boston coming to town to play and expect him to be even more aggressive offensively and defensively with Shaquille O’Neal out of the lineup. Oh, and Mo Williams ain’t playing too bad, either.
Currently he odds makers do not have lines yet.
Boston will need to have its big three of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett all have big days in order to offset what will surely be another virtuoso performance by LeBron James. Which means the role players will likely determine the outcome of this game, and Cleveland’s supporting cast is much better suited to win games like these. Playing at Cleveland also can’t be undersold — it’s a hard arena to win at.
Look for the Cavaliers to get the edge in a hard-fought game and win by three points.
Boston Celtics Betting Trends:
- Boston is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games
- Boston is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
- Boston is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games on the road
- The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Boston’s last 9 games on the road
Cleveland Cavaliers Betting Trends:
- Cleveland is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games
- Cleveland is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games at home
- Cleveland is 15-1 SU in its last 16 games at home
- Cleveland is 9-2 ATS in its last 11 games when playing Boston
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