Cavaliers vs Celtics Game 2 Picks, Odds | NBA Playoffs Prediction

Cavaliers vs Celtics Game 2 Picks, Odds | NBA Playoffs Prediction

The second round of the NBA Playoffs continues with an excellent 2-game slate on Thursday night -- and the first matchup of the evening we'll preview is Cavaliers vs. Celtics Game 2, which is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.

The Cavs are huge 13.5-point underdogs on the spread in Thursday's contest, while the total is set at over/under 213 total points at DraftKings.

Here's everything you need to know about Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals between the Celtics and Cavaliers -- the latest betting odds, as well as our expert picks and prediction for the NBA Playoffs on Thursday, May 9.

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Cavaliers vs Celtics Odds

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Cavaliers vs Celtics Picks & Prediction

Once again, congratulations to the Cavaliers on winning a thrilling seven-game series against the Magic in the opening round. Winning a playoff series is no easy feat, and they should be proud of their accomplishment regardless of the opponent. But now that’s over, I must ask, did they really wanna’ know how much worse they are than the top-seeded Celtics? Well, ready or not, here it comes…

The Celtics lead the entire NBA in 3-point attempts per game (42.5), and they knock them down at the second-best clip (38.8%), which equates to the best offensive rating (123.2) in the league by a considerable margin and the second-highest scoring average at 120.6 points per game.

Not to mention, the Celtics also rank 3rd in team defensive rating (111.6), which falls directly behind the Magic (111.3), who just held the Cavaliers to 95.9 points per game on 44% from the field and 29% from 3-point range in a lengthy seven-game series in the previous round.

The Cavaliers play good defense, ranked 7th in the NBA in defensive rating, and that’s exactly how they got here. However, the Cavs simply don’t have enough offensive firepower to run with Boston in this series, and the natural imbalance in scoring ability between these two teams was on full display in Game 1 on Tuesday night.

In Tuesday’s series opener, Boston had an answer for every single tactic Cleveland threw at them. It was a track meet out of the gate, and the Celtics won the first quarter by a score of 40-34. Then, the Cavs tried to slow down the pace and make it ugly in the second quarter, but that didn’t phase Boston either, as the Celtics won Quarter 2 by a score of 19-15. It was back to the races in the third quarter with Cleveland trailing by double digits, and of course, the C’s prospered again at a tally of 33-28. And then in the fourth quarter, it was simply all Boston from start to finish, as the Celtics won the final stanza by a 10-point margin (28-18) to complete a dominant 25-point victory in Game 1.

Any way you slice it, the Cavaliers aren’t built for a title run, but this is a particularly awful matchup for Cleveland. The Celtics oftentimes force opposing teams to try to match their production from 3-point range, and while that naturally yields a certain level of variance in their results game-to-game, the Cavs simply don’t have enough offensive weaponry to compete with Boston in an extended 3-point shootout barring an absolute miracle.

Credit to the Cavaliers. They came into this series with a game plan, and they certainly tried to match the Celtics’ long range shooting in Game 1, as Boston jacked up 46 3-point attempts on Tuesday night, while Cleveland countered with 42. The only problem was, the Celtics knocked down 18 of their 46 (39.1%) 3-point attempts, and the Cavs only hit 11-of-42 (26.2%) – which may be indicative of what’s to come moving forward for a Cleveland team that’s shot 71-of-251 (28.3%) from 3-point territory through eight playoff games thus far.

Pick: Celtics -13.5 (-110)

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Cavaliers vs Celtics Game Time & TV Channel

Date: Thursday, May 9
Matchup: Central vs. Atlantic
Venue: TD Garden
Location: Boston, MA
Time-TV: ESPN, 7:00 p.m. ET

Cavaliers vs Celtics Betting Stats

1) Boston Celtics
(1st Place, Atlantic)

  • Odds to Win Finals: -115
  • Odds to Win Conference: -420
  • Odds to Win Series: -8000
  • SU: 64-18
  • ATS: 43-38-1
  • O/U: 37-44-1
  • PPG: 120.6
  • OPPG: 109.2

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3) Cleveland Cavaliers
(2nd Place, Central)

  • Odds to Win Finals: +20000
  • Odds to Win Conference: +6500
  • Odds to Win Series: +1800
  • SU: 48-34
  • ATS: 39-43
  • O/U: 40-41-1
  • PPG: 112.6
  • OPPG: 110.2

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