basketball | Monday, March 6, 2023 11:55 AM

Cleveland Cavaliers vs Boston Celtics Best Bet: Cavs Win the Series

Milan Stanojic

Cleveland Cavaliers vs Boston Celtics Best Bet: Monday, March 6th

The Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Boston Celtics for the 4th and final time this season at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. They are looking to close out the series tonight at home against a team they already beat twice this season in both venues. The Celtics are coming off a heartbreaker last night in New York, and it will be interesting to see if they can bounce back right away.

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Cleveland Cavaliers vs Boston Celtics Preview
Cleveland Cavaliers vs Boston Celtics Best Bet

Cleveland Cavaliers vs Boston Celtics Preview

Tue, Mar 7th. 00:00 (UK time)

The Cleveland Cavaliers need to win tonight. The Knicks are on a 9-game winning streak and the 4th position in the Eastern Conference is now in jeopardy. The good news is, the Cavs are in good form too, having won 2 of their last 3 games and coming off a 114-90 win against the Pistons. They lost to the Celtics last week at TD Garden by 117-113, but we’ve got a different situation tonight. The Cavs had a day off yesterday and played their last game at home, where they boast a 27-7 record this season.

The Cavs are ranking 8th in net rating over the last 5 games. They play a slow and efficient style of ball and it has been working so far. The Cavs are atop the league in net rating on the season, with the best defence in the league and an efficient offence that delivers almost a 49%-field goal percentage. They have allowed just 106.4 points per game this year whilst keeping opponents to 46.6% from the field and just 11.4 threes per game. The Cavs have been one of the best home teams this year, covering the spread in 21 of their 32 games, including 7 of their last 10.

The Celtics are now 2nd in the conference standings with a 45-20 record and trailing the first seed by a single win. They are trying to get back atop the table, but since beating the Cavs last week they’ve lost both of their games against the Nets and Knicks. In fact, they played the Knicks last night and tragically lost in double overtime.

Imagine being the Celtics right now. Imagine being Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. You just played a double OT, almost 50 minutes apiece, combined for almost 70 points at home and Immanuel Quickley just spoils your night with a career-high 38 points and a game-winner. Now you’re getting on a bus to Cleveland to take on the Cavs the very next night. The Celtics have ranked 21st in net rating over the last 5 games and are not in very good shape at the moment. They have only managed to cover the spread in 1 of their last 5 games and given the night they just had, I’m sensing fatigue and morale will be an issue.

Cleveland Cavaliers vs Boston Celtics Best Bet

The Cavaliers already beat the Celtics twice this season, and the series is now 2-1 in their favour. They are rested, playing at home, in good form, facing a team they know they can beat, they are out for revenge and most importantly, they aren’t the ones coming off a double OT heartbreaker. I’m backing the Cavs to get the job done in the moneyline tonight.