Game 2 Cavs vs. Celtics Gambling Odds + Preview

NBA: LeBron holds the key

Cleveland superstar, LeBron James went 2-18 from the field in Game 1 of their series against Boston, but the Cavaliers still covered the 10-point spread in a 76-72 loss.

Boston is once again a hefty favorite at minus nine-points for Game 2, scheduled for 7 pm ET on an ESPN Thursday. So far, 86% of the early bettors think Cleveland will cover again.

The fact that Cleveland almost won the first game with James struggling is a good sign for the Cavs. A lot of those 16 misses from the field were shots he normally makes, and several were unlucky breaks where the ball was halfway down before bouncing out.

Boston did play tremendous defense on James with Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and James Posey all getting a turn on him. However, it will be a shocker if James struggles for the second game in a row.

The Celtics were also out of sync offensively for most of the game, likely a hangover from their grueling seven-game series with Atlanta. Pierce was one of the main culprits with just four points on 2-14 shooting. Pierce gets a mulligan for that game due to his great defense on James, which clearly tired him out on the other end of the court.

The biggest Celtic disappointment on Tuesday night was shooting guard Ray Allen. The word ‘shooting’ is used lightly as he scored zero points in a game for the first time since his rookie season in 1997.

Granted, Allen only took four shots, but this career 45% marksman is shooting just 40% this postseason. Allen scored just seven points in the Game 7 finale against Atlanta, another worrying performance.

Pierce and Allen must both make dramatic jumps in their offensive play if they hope to cover this nine-point spread. Unlike the Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland is not going to roll over and play dead on the road. The Cavaliers have won two road games this postseason, and they won five last year as they made it all the way to the NBA Finals.

Cleveland has an advantage in the 4th quarter as they give the ball to James on every possession, and he either takes the shot himself or finds an open teammate when he is double teamed. His play alone tends to keep games close to the end and that has been proven by the stat that shows Cleveland is 5-2 ATS this year when underdogs by nine-points or more.

One more betting stat to talk about in this game is the Under. The 148 points scored in Game 1 came in 33 points Under the total. The Over/ Under for Game 2 is still fairly high at 177 points.

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