Boston Celtics vs Cleveland Cavaliers
Close your eyes and picture the Boston Celtics, without two of their premier stars, heading to the Quicken Loans Arena with a 2-0 series lead. Now, imagine LeBron James, angry at the team for letting him down again.
Now, consider your basketball betting options. It’s easy to say the Boston Celtics will steamroll over the Cleveland Cavaliers, but that couldn’t be further away from the truth.
As long as LeBron James is in the court, nothing is certain for Brad Stevens’ men. As long as LeBron James still breathes, betting sites will still give his squads a lot of consideration. As long as LeBron James still bleeds Wine and Gold, the Cleveland Cavaliers will always be contenders.
The fact that we’re not yet counting out the Cavaliers is a testament to LeBron’s greatness as an NBA player.
Talking Points
To be honest, no one expected things to end up this way. While no one was certain how things would go in the lead-up to the series, nobody in their right minds thought that the Cavs would disintegrate this way at the TD Garden.
Tyronn Lue was clueless as the Cavaliers weren’t able to find an answer to the attacks Boston mounted upon them. Jaylen Brown was unstoppable from all over the court. Jayson Tatum had a rather quiet night but made important contributions to the C’s defensive rotations. “Scary” Terry Rozier was also seeing his shots fall, while Al Horford’s silent but solid contributions down low proved to be too much for Cavs.
Meanwhile, The Land is going through all kinds of trouble. LeBron is the only bright spot in a Cleveland team that seemingly went back to their ways during the first round of the playoffs. Kyle Korver, Jordan Clarkson and the rest of the Cavaliers weren’t doing so hot on offence and defence.
Even Tyronn Lue admitted to making mistakes when it came to the Game 2 roster he fielded. While he refused to tell why he started the second quarter without either LeBron James or Kevin Love, he admitted that he shouldn’t have done that. “Something happened but we’ll be better at it next time,” Lue said.
Of course, any talk about the Cavaliers will be moot if LeBron James isn’t brought up once. He is the only that is stopping the Cavaliers from being the Phoenix Suns, and he is doing a wonderful job of it. He bounced back from his atrocious performance at Game 1 to end the night with 42 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists.
I don’t think he’ll allow Beantown to run rampant in his court, so we should expect more eager defending from the Cavs after James whips them back to shape.
History
The problems for the Cavaliers are obvious with just a simple peek at the stat sheet. They cannot find a way to stop any of Boston starters while also struggling to find their own shots. And they are struggling to get things together against a Boston team that is without Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward.
King James has always been carrying the Cavaliers in the playoffs, but we’re not sure if he can actually will the Cavaliers past the C’s this time around. Lue is obviously outplayed by Brad Stevens, and Jaylen Brown is killing them from the corner and the inside.
What the Cavs need to do is look into film and remember how dominant they were against the Toronto Raptors. They managed to put a dangerous Toronto team to sleep with effective shooting and team play. I am not sure how they will manage to pull that off, but they need to find solutions now if they hope to even the series.
What are the odds?
It’s hard to figure out the best odds among the multitude of offerings, but Asian Handicap offers an interesting picture. Bookies put James and the Cavaliers to win, with a -7.00 handicap going for 2.11. Meanwhile, the Celtics have 1.98 odds for a +6.00 boost.
Honestly, I am not comfortable with the way the odds are set up, but we have to remember that LeBron can pull off the impossible. He is one-third of what helped the Cavaliers pull off the impossible 2016 upset against the Golden State Warriors. He will not let the series go 3-0 without his say in it. Even the Celtics are aware that things will be much harder at the Q.
The Cavs can capitalise on Boston’s terrible road record, but whether they turn the series around will be up to the rest of the team. We know King James won’t let the Land down; it’s on his knights to step up and help him win.
Other notable match-ups
Western Conference Finals Game 3
Houston Rockets vs Golden State Warriors: The Oracle Arena will be loud and proud as they cheer on the Dubs against a strong Houston Rockets team. Steve Kerr should have made the necessary adjustments to stop James Harden, Chris Paul and Eric Gordon, and it is up to the team to execute.
For the latest sports update, promotions and betting picks with SBOBET get social with our official Twitter, Google+, YouTube and Facebook accounts. Visit SBOBET and join us now. Start placing your bets today!
Click for more football betting options.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
