Cleveland (1-3) at Boston (3-1)
When: Wednesday, May 15th 2024
Where: TD Garden,
Boston, MA
Time: 7:00 ET | TV: TNT
Opening Odds: Boston -15.5/205.5
The Cleveland Cavaliers are hanging on to their Eastern Conference semifinal by a razor-thin margin and the season could very well come to an end on Wednesday night. The Boston Celtics are one win away from the conference finals and host the Cavs in Game 5 of their best-of-seven series. Each of the first three games were blowouts with Boston winning two of them. Then came Monday’s Game 4 where the Cavaliers were without their leading scorer, Donovan Mitchell. Cleveland hung around, or should I say, Boston let them hang around in a 109-102 setback as 11.5-point underdogs.
The odds now obviously favor the Celtics in a huge way. There are no odds for Boston winning in five games. Should they require an extra game back in Cleveland, you would get +1200 on that. The Celtics winning in seven is +5000 and a huge +10,000 price for the Cavs to win in seven. One thing Cleveland has going for them in Game 5 is that Boston doesn’t play that well at home in the postseason. They are the only team in NBA history to play 28 home games over three playoff runs and not have a winning record (14-14). The Celtics are 15.5-point favorites in Game 5 and are -1450 on the moneyline.
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
When news broke that Mitchell was sitting out Game 4, the outlook seemed dire for the Cavaliers. But the rest of the squad put up an admirable performance in keeping it close. Darius Garland took over and finished with 30 points and seven assists. Evan Mobley and Caris LeVert each scored 19 points, while Max Strus hit some early three-pointers and ended up with 15 points. There wasn’t much of an inside presence, as Cleveland shot just 5-of-7 from the free throw line. Cleveland’s only chance of winning this game is to have Mitchell on the floor, 100 percent or not.
BOSTON CELTICS
Monday’s game was the first time in nine postseason games that a final score was decided by less than 10 points in a Boston game. Jrue Holiday (16 points, 6-for-11) once again provided a spark, while Derrick White continued to struggle (five points). As expected, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown carried the load with 33 and 27 points respectively. Boston dominated the boards 48-32 and were 21-of-24 from the charity stripe.
Prediction:
Even with Mitchell playing, the Celtics should take care of business in Game 5. I’m laying the points despite Boston not being a great home team in postseason play. I think the Cavs are cooked and Boston will bring their A game.
Check out who Bobby Babowski has on his Free NBA Picks page for today.
