The Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics meet for Game 2 of a best-of-7 Eastern Conference, 2nd-round series Thursday. The Celtics lead the series 1-0. Tip-off from TD Garden is set for 7 p.m. ET (ESPN). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Cavaliers vs. Celtics odds and make our expert NBA picks and predictions.
The Cavaliers advanced past the Orlando Magic in 7 games, but Cleveland has been terrible on the road in this postseason. The Cavs lost 120-95 in the opener in Game 1 at TD Garden, and Cleveland has lost 3 of its 4 playoff games on the road by at least 23 points, including a franchise-worst 38-point loss in Game 3 of the Orlando series. It is also 0-4 against the spread (ATS) in those games, and 1-5 ATS in the past 6 playoff games.
While Cleveland was shooting just 41.1% from the field in Game 1, including a dismal 26.2% (11-of-42) from behind the arc, Boston was a solid 48.9% from the floor, and 39.1% (18-of-46) from downtown. The good news for the Cavs is that they turned it over only 5 times, but the C’s held a plus-17 rebounding margin at 55-to-38.
Boston has won 4 in a row against Cleveland at TD Garden, and it has covered the past 2. The Over (211) in Game 1 snapped a 2-game run to the Under, but the Over is 6-2 in the previous 8 meetings.