NBA Playoffs - Series Insight: Celtics vs. Cavaliers

Written by Lucky Lester on May, 8th 2008 | 0 Comments

2008 NBA Playoff Match-up

It only took the Cavaliers 6 games to get through the Wizards, and that was only because LeBron’s last second shot in Game 5 barely skipped off the rim. The Celtics, on the other hand, had to go the distance against a Hawks team that finished under .500 on the season. This should be one heck of a series as LeBron James tries his best to crush the Championship dreams of the Big 3 in Boston.

Boston Celtics (1) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (4)

Game 1 kicks off the series in Boston on Tuesday. These two teams always play tight games. Dating back to February 2nd 2006, the Cavs and Celtics have played 10 games - the final score has been within 5 points or less in all but two of the meetings. The last shot has decided the game 4 times, and the two teams have taken the game into overtime twice. This season, in four games, the Cavs and Celtics split, with the home team winning each game.

Season Series:
11/27/07—Boston 104 @ Cleveland 109 (OT) (over)
12/02/07—Cleveland 70 @ Boston 80 (under)
02/05/08—Boston 113 @ Cleveland 114 (over)
02/27/08—Cleveland 87 @ Boston 92 (under)

Cleveland won against the spread in 3 of the 4 games, as the favorite lost ATS in each contest. The over/under was 2-2, with both games in Cleveland finishing over the total, and both Boston contests finishing under. Boston finished the season with more points per game, better shooting percentages, a higher ranked defense, and more bench production than Cleveland. The Cavaliers committed fewer turnovers and rebounded better than Boston.

The Cavs were 4-2 SU and ATS against the Wizards in Round 1. They were 2-1 on the road, and 2-1 at home. During the regular season, the Cavs were 45-37 SU, just 37-45 ATS, and 37-43-2 O/U. They were 27-14 at home, but just 18-23 on the road.

Boston was 4-3 SU and ATS against the Atlanta Hawks in Game 1. They lost all three road-games while easily winning (20+ points on average) each home game. The under was 3-1 in Boston, but the over was 3-0 in Atlanta. During the regular season, the Celtics were 66-16 SU, 52-28-2 ATS, and 36-45-1 O/U. The Celtics were 31-10 away from home, and 35-6 in Boston.

Prediction: It may be considered easy to pick the Celtics, but how can I go away from the best team in the league? Did they have trouble with a very young and talented Hawks team riding the highs of their home crowd? Yes they did. But they won, slipping into the 2nd round where they are supposed to get a tough test from the Cavs. I don’t buy it. Cleveland and Boston my have split their regular season series, but I expect Boston to move through this series with relative ease. Anytime you go against a guy like LeBron James, anything can happen, but after plowing through team after team during the regular season, one tough series isn’t going to sway me one way or another. I’ll take the Celtics in 6, with a strong possibility of 5. Against the spread, that might be another story. This could be one of those rare instances when the losing team wins most of the games ATS. Boston gets big spreads, and Cleveland prides themselves on keeping things close. Don’t buy the 9-10 point spreads…

Series Schedule

Gm. 1:Tue., May 6: at Boston, 8 p.m. ET (TNT)
Gm. 2:Thu., May 8: at Boston, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Gm. 3:Sat., May 10: at Cleveland, 8 p.m. ET (ABC)
Gm. 4:Mon., May 12: at Cleveland, 8 p.m. ET (TNT)
Gm. 5*:Wed., May 14: at Boston, (TNT)
Gm. 6*:Fri., May 16: at Cleveland, (ESPN)
Gm. 7*:Sun., May 18: at Boston, (TBD)
*If necessary, times to be determined

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