Can the Cavs follow up?

When the Cleveland Cavaliers play the Boston Celtics, two clubs with a total of 18 championships will meet. However, 17 of those trophies are on the Celtics’ shelves, making this an uneven matchup. The Celtics were last crowned champions in 2008. For the Cavs, on the other hand, it wasn’t all that long ago. Their first and only championship to date came in 2016, when Lebron James and Co. beat the overmatched Warriors.

After a surprisingly good start to the season, the Cavs now welcome the slightly stumbling Celtics from Boston to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse for an Eastern Conference duel. Most recently, the Cavs followed up a loss to Washington with an expected win over the Detroit Pistons. Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics were able to put an exclamation mark on the reigning champions.

When the Cavs meet the Celtics, predictions are for an exciting and close game. Even before the season began, few would have expected this. The Cavs’ unusually large line-up with the two bigs Jarrett Allen and rookie Evan Mobley as well as the lively guards Garland and Sexton has been quite convincing so far and makes you want more, while the Celtics have shown rather inconsistent performances so far. Nevertheless, the Cleveland Cavaliers are at a disadvantage against the Boston Celtics according to the bookmakers’ odds.

Cleveland Cavaliers – Statistics & current form

After failing to qualify for the playoffs the last three seasons in the Believeland, they now entered the new round with equally few expectations before the season. At this point, however, fans have been pleasantly surprised. Those who wondered why the Cavs traded one big man after the other in the offseason are now a little bit smarter almost a month later.

Mobley & Allen as a dangerous duo

Jarrett Allen, who was loosened from the Brooklyn Nets before the season, has fulfilled all expectations and hopes so far. As a hopeful talent and promise for the future, Allen took an important role in the team this season. With almost 15 points and more than eleven rebounds per game, Allen is averaging a double-double with outstanding rates from the field.

His big partner Evan Mobley, who was picked third in the first round of the draft, is in no way inferior to him. With just over 15 points per game, Mobley is even outperforming Allen, even if his field-goal percentage is not quite as strong. One can only congratulate the Cavs on this duo.

The two bigs are completed by the two guards Garland and Sexton. Garland, who provides just over seven assists per game, will again try to set the stage for his big teammates against the Boston Celtics. If he doesn’t succeed, he proves his own scoring ability with an average of almost 16 points. His partner in the backcourt is Colin Sexton. He is somewhat blamed for his stubbornness. A meagre two assists per game underline this claim. For the game against the Celtics, however, the Cavs’ best scorer is out with knee problems.

Garland takes over

In the absence of Sexton, Darius Garland took over and put up a solid 21 points in a low-scoring game against the weak Detroit Pistons. He also handed out seven assists and secured his eighth win of the season.

Coach J. B. Bickerstaff will be pleased with the Cavaliers’ start to the season. With games against the league’s absolute heavyweights coming up in the next few days, the Cavs will try everything to keep the back-to-back games against Boston on a positive note. The bookmakers see the Celtics at a slight advantage for a tip on the winner in Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics.

Predicted Cleveland Cavaliers lineup:
Wade, Okoro, Allen, Mobley, Garland

Boston Celtics – Statistics & current form

Beginning the season with a lot of hopes, the Celtics have come down to earth in view of their poor start to the season, in which, moreover, they have not yet had to play against too many of the league’s top teams. Ahead of back-to-back duels with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Celtics are already anything but in harmony.

Ime Udoka, who has been on the sidelines since this season, should ensure a better season than the last one, in which they won only 50% of their games. At this stage, a prediction of a similar performance seems quite realistic.

Star duo too headstrong?

Lately, a discussion started by Marcus Smart about whether Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum play too few assists and are therefore too easy for the opponent to calculate. The guard criticised the lack of passes from his two stars. According to the statistics, he was right. They only have two and three assists per game, respectively. How big that number could be if their teammates would hit their shots consistently is the other side of the coin.

The team around German point guard Dennis Schröder, who was last under contract with the LA Lakers and is playing a decent round with over 14 points and almost six assists per game, is desperate to win in the upcoming Eastern Conference duel in order to slide closer to the top places. Currently, they are not even directly qualified for the playoffs, but are fighting for the play-in tournament.

Schröder takes over against the Bucks

With 38 points in the last game against the reigning champions, the German could probably convince the last doubters of himself. The Celtics travel to Cleveland with a broad chest, but probably also heavy legs after this overtime win against Milwaukee. Only one day later they will play the Cavs. That win against the Bucks should give them confidence. Nevertheless, we see the bet on a Cavs win or a game with a total of few points as realistic for Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics, because in view of the difficult next games of the Celtics, they could now put on the brakes a bit in the upcoming game.

Coach Udoka should find a better mix for the next weeks. In league comparisons, they are not even in the top 15 teams in the entire NBA in both defensive rating and offensive rating. Given these stats, we see the betting odds on a game with fewer baskets as good to play on Cleveland Cavaliers vs Boston Celtics.

Predicted Boston Celtics lineup:
Schröder, Smart, Brown, Tatum, Al Horford

Cleveland Cavaliers – Boston Celtics Head-to-head comparison / H2H record

When you look at the head-to-head comparison between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics, predicting a winner only gets more difficult. In a total of 90 encounters, there have been a total of 46 wins for the Cavaliers. Accordingly, the Celtics have been victorious 44 times. The Celtics could equalise this record in the two upcoming duels.

Cleveland Cavaliers – Boston Celtics Tip

J.B. Bickerstaff’s men won four in a row before the clash with the tough Wizards from Washington and improved their record enormously as a result. Now they are determined to follow up their win against the Detroit Pistons with a ninth victory.

The Boston Celtics, on the other hand, want to finally bring consistency into their season. Time and again, they have suffered unnecessary defeats and poor performances. Especially on the offensive end, they need to find better routines and become less dependent on their two stars in order to be less predictable. With the exclamation mark against the Bucks, the own statistics could be balanced. Against the Cavs, it should go in the positive direction if possible.

We suspect that for the game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics a tip on a low-scoring game, i.e. a game with few points, could be the most profitable overall. Accordingly, we bet five units on a game with less than 203 points. For those who want to bet on a winner, we see the home team having the advantage. The Celtics are coming off an exhausting overtime game a day earlier against the Bucks, and on top of that now have a long flight of over 1000 km from Boston to Cleveland ahead of them. In Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics, our prediction goes in the direction of the Cavs, who now play their second home game in a row, due to the better recovery.