NBA betting on Sunday includes an Eastern Conference rivalry game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics. The game means a lot more to Boston than it does to Cleveland since the Cavaliers have almost wrapped up the top seed. That doesn’t mean Cleveland won’t win this game in basketball betting though.
NBA betting trends point to Cleveland in this game. Although the Cavaliers and Celtics have split their last ten meetings, the Cavs have covered the spread in eight of the ten. The teams have met three times this season and Cleveland has won two of the three. Boston won on opening night but they have been blown out the last two times. They lost 108-88 at home and 104-93 in Cleveland. Both of those games went over the total in NBA betting and that continued a recent trend that has seen four of the last five in this series go over the total.
Cleveland is going to clinch the top seed in the Eastern Conference within days and they also have a solid lead over the Los Angeles Lakers for the overall top seed in the NBA. This game on Sunday is a rivalry game though and a national showcase game on ABC. That will mean a good effort from LeBron James and the Cavaliers. At this point the Cavaliers are simply better than Boston. Even with this game being at Boston, the Cavaliers are likely to be a small favorite in NBA betting odds.
Cleveland is 21-16-1 this season on the road vs. the basketball betting line. They have gone under the total in 19 of their road games so they are about 50-50 in terms of the total. Cleveland has the 8th best offense in the league and the 4th best defense. That is a potent combination that most teams can’t handle.
Boston has simply been awful at home this season vs. the NBA betting odds. They are almost as bad as Dallas at home vs. the number and that is saying something. It is really unclear why they are so bad though as they have the third best defense in the league and an offense with Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen that should be able to score. Boston is overvalued though and that is a problem for them when they are favored in basketball betting odds.