Basketball bet on Thursday features the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Boston Celtics on TNT television. These teams have split their last ten meetings although the Cavaliers are 8-2 against the basketball betting line in those games. Basketball bet had Boston winning at Cleveland Cavaliers earlier this season by a score of 95-89. The teams have not met in Boston in almost a year when Cleveland routed the Celtics 107-76. Normally the Celtics do well against Cleveland in the Garden but last year is sure didn’t work out that way.
Boston got a double-double out of Paul Pierce in the victory earlier this season as he had 23 points and 11 rebounds. Pierce is dealing with an injury currently so if he plays in this Thursday game he may not be at full strength. Basketball bet stats had Pierce averaging 20.3 points per game last year against Cleveland. The Cavaliers were led by LeBron James who averaged 27.5 points per game.
Cleveland Cavaliers has been a better team on the road this season vs. the basketball betting line than at home. The Cavaliers are 16-12-1 this season on the road vs. the basketball bet odds. Cleveland Cavaliers has an excellent defense and they do go under the total more often on the road than at home. Cleveland is 3rd in the league on defense while they are 8th on offense. LeBron leads the league in scoring at 30 points per game.
Boston has an even better defense that Cleveland as they are first in the league. The Celtics have not been a good team at home this season versus the basketball bet line. Boston continues to struggle at home when they are laying points in basketball betting. The Celtics simply don’t score enough points to cover big basketball bet numbers. That will not be an issue in this game since the basketball bet line on this game between Cleveland and Boston is close.
The Celtics are running away with the Atlantic Division while Cleveland is running away with the Central Division so this game is more about sending a message for the playoffs. The Cavaliers are going to have the home court edge if these two teams meet in the playoffs. Cleveland Cavaliers proved last year they can also win at Boston. The Cleveland Cavaliers have not played as well recently since getting Antawn Jamison in a trade with Washington so it will be interesting to see how they do in this marquee basketball betting matchup.