Boston Celtics vs Cleveland Cavaliers Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 05/05/2024, 22:37  by Kennedy Kechula in NBA Predictions

The Boston Celtics will be at home to welcome the Cleveland Cavaliers to begin their Eastern Conference semi-final playoff matchup. Boston defeated the Heat in five games in round one while the Cavaliers eliminated the Magic in seven. The Celtics will have had six days to prepare by the time they take to the court against the Cavaliers. Considering that they won two of three regular-season meetings, they will be confident of a winning start. Joe Mazzulla’s men were in dominant form against the Heat and avenged last season’s conference final loss to them. They won the last three matches after shockingly losing game two 111-101 at home. Game two was the only match in which they allowed the Heat to score over 100 points. Boston wrapped the series up in game five, winning 118-84. Derrick White scored a game-high 25 points. He had scored a career-high 37 points in game four and is averaging 22.4 points in the postseason. Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum are also averaging over 20 a night. The Celtics averaged 107.8 points against the Heat and shot 47.4% from the field. Kristaps Porzingis missed game five with a calf issue and is expected to be questionable for this match.

The Cavaliers will have little time to prepare for this trip which comes just three days after they eliminated the Magic in seven. They will however have the momentum having not stayed long without competitive action. J.B. Bickerstaff’s men won game seven against the Magic 106-94. They did not win a single road game and all four of their wins came at home. Cleveland are in the semi-finals for the first time since the last of four straight finals appearances in 2018. After four seasons of missing the playoffs, they were back in the postseason last year but were ousted in the first round. Donovan Mitchell was in superb form against the Magic and averaged a team-high 28.7 points in the series. This was the eighth-best record in the first round. In game six, despite the Cavaliers losing 103-96, Mitchell put up 50 points. He would score 39 in game seven and was the only Cavs player to score at least 20 points. Mitchell has averaged 30 points against the Celtics this season though the only match he missed they won. The Cavaliers averaged 95.9 points in the first round and shot 44% from the field. Jarrett Allen has missed the last three games with a rib injury and could also be sidelined for this trip. Dean Wade, Ty Jerome and Craig Porter Jr. are also expected to be out.