Basketball gambling is not quite for the Boston Celtics tying the Eastern Conference Finals 2-2 tonight, but they’ll surely try their best anyway, as they did in game 3. The Celtics held off the Cavs 111-108 on Sunday to pull within one game in the series. “We have guys who have chips on their shoulders,” Boston head coach Brad Stevens said. Like Robert Conrad? Oh wait, that was an Eveready battery. The point is that the Celtics rallied from a 21-point deficit in the third quarter to make up for their disastrous performance in game 2.
Time: 8:35 PM
Venue: Quicken Loans Arena
Sportsbook NBA online betting odds:
Celtics +14½ (-110) 217½ (-110) +1250
Cavaliers -14½ (-110) 217½ (-110) -2000
Boston
Key players: The Celtics lost Isaiah Thomas to a hip injury for the remainder of the playoffs, but as Marcus Smart said, everybody stepped up their game. Smart had 27 points and hit seven three-point shots, including one that made it 95-95. Avery Bradley added 20 points as well as the game-winning trey with less than a second to go on a play designed by Stevens. The shot bounced on the rim a few times times before finally going in, so, not for the faint of heart as they say. Finally, forward Jonas Jerebko thought Kevin Love flopped. Jerebko doesn’t like flopping. He must’ve hated King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.
Recent form: Boston has lost 11 of the last 14 meetings with Cleveland and two of their last seven visits to the Q.
NBA online betting odds trends: The Celtics have covered in 10 of the last 14 overall games and in six of the last eight on the road. The basketball gambling total has gone over in five of the Celtics’ last seven and under in five of their last seven road games.
Cleveland
Key players: LeBron James had a Kevin-Durant-in-Thunderstruck night and only scored 11 disappointing points (disappoints?), ending an eight-game streak of scoring at least 30 points. Moreover, James had six TOs and scored a single point in the last 18 minutes of the game. James is 62 points short of passing Michael Jordan as the leading scorer in playoffs history. Kyrie Irving scored 29 points, and Kevin Love added 28.
Recent form: The Cavs’ 13-game playoffs winning streak came to a screeching halt, but James is “kind of glad it happened the way it did… I feel some adversity is part of the postseason. If it’s going to happen, let it happen now.”
NBA online betting odds trends: So much winning must have made the Cavs forget about covering; Cleveland is 5-1-1 against the spread in the last seven games, 2-5 ATS in the last seven at home, and 1-4-1 ATS in the last six times hosting the Celtics. The basketball gambling total has gone over in 14 of the Cavaliers’ last 19 games, over in their last five home games, and over in 80% of the Cavs’ last five encounters with Boston in Cleveland.