NBA Playoff Betting – (2) Cavaliers at (7) Celtics (Game 3)

Cleveland Cavaliers (-4, 204 o/u) at Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics (0-2, 0-0 home) have stayed close – but ultimately come up short – in the first two games of their best-of-seven series against the Cleveland Cavaliers (2-0, 0-0 away). Tonight, the Celtics will look to avoid falling behind 3-0 when they host the Cavs at TD Garden (7:00 PM Eastern).

In Game 1, Boston came out scorching, taking a four-point lead into the second quarter. But a mid-game let-down proved the team’s undoing, as Cleveland outscored Boston by 19 in the second and third en route to a 113-100 win (both SU and ATS). Game 2 saw Boston hang tight until the fourth quarter but succumb to LeBron James’ 30 points in a 99-91 loss.

Despite a poor shooting night, the Celtics pushed the Cavaliers to the limit in Game 2 and managed to cover as 11-point road dogs. Sixth Man of the Year runner-up Isaiah Thomas came off the bench to lead Boston with 22 points, including hitting 10/10 from the stripe. Fellow reserve Jared Sullinger added 14 points on 6/12 shooting.

Head coach Brad Stevens sees the loss as something his team can build off.

“We made those guys earn everything they got,” said Stevens, “and that’s a step in the right direction. We were in a three-possession game, and we shot 38-percent.”

Stevens was particularly happy with the way his squad defended.

“Obviously, they’re great players,” Stevens added. “I thought we challenged [Cleveland point guard] Kyrie [Irving] a little bit better. … But he’s a really explosive ball handler and scorer. And then when LeBron just puts his shoulder down and wants to get where he wants to go, it’s hard to stop him from getting there.”

Cleveland boss David Blatt was similarly happy with his own team’s defense.

“They’re coming in with a lot of firepower and scoring the ball,” said Blatt. “[A]t the end of the day, you’re giving yourself a chance to win if you’re holding your opponent to 91 [points] … .”

In the trends, Boston is 17-5 SU in its last 22 games at home against Cleveland, but the bulk of those didn’t feature James. Over/under-wise, four of the last five games in the series have stayed under the total. With both squads showing solid defense last time out, consider the under (204) again for tonight’s tilt.

(Photo credit: Keith Allison from Baltimore, USA (AAAA0584) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)