Betting news, trends, odds and predictions from various handicappers and websites for Tuesday 5/15/18 .
Cleveland Cavaliers at Boston Celtics (-1, 203)
Celtics leads series 1-0.
Marcus Morris and his Boston teammates got the best of LeBron James in the opener of the Eastern Conference finals. The second-seeded Celtics look to stymie the Cleveland star for the second consecutive contest when they host the fourth-seeded Cavaliers on Tuesday in Game 2 of the best-of-seven series.
Morris helped hold James to 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting as Boston roared to a 26-point halftime advantage en route to a 108-83 torching of Cleveland in Sunday's series opener. Morris moved into the starting lineup and had 21 points and 10 rebounds after boasting prior to the opener that he is one of the best in the NBA at defending James. "It's a team effort, man, it's not just me," Morris told reporters after the easy victory. "Everybody played their part in guarding him. He's obviously the best player in the game, and you need multiple guys and a team to guard him an entire game. I just think we did a great job of that." Cavaliers veteran swingman Kyle Korver summed up the performance this way: "Bad game, bad first game. There's lot of things we can do better in the next one."
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
Note: Not every online sportsbook is the same. Thinking of placing a bet? Check which top rated sports betting sites have been reviewed first.
LINE HISTORY: The Cavaliers opened as 1-point road favorites for Game 2 at a few Vegas books but that number didn't last long as the pointspread quickly jumped the fence to Celtics -1. The total hit betting boards at 202.5 and has been bumped up to 203. Check out the complete line history here.
INJURY REPORT:
Cavaliers - No injuries to report.
Celtics - PG S. Larkin (Out, Shoulder), PG K. Irving (Out For Season, Knee), PF D. Theis (Out For Season, Knee), SF G. Hayward (Out For Season, Ankle).
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (58-36 SU, 36-57-1 ATS, 44-48-2 O/U): James also committed seven turnovers during his porous performance but he said he wasn't worried about his team trailing in the series. "I have zero level of concern at this stage," James told reporters. "I didn't go to college, so it's not March Madness. You know, you get better throughout the series. You see ways you can get better throughout the series. But I've been down 0-1, I've been down 0-2, I've been down before in the postseason. But for me, there's never no level of concern, no matter how bad I played tonight with seven turnovers, how inefficient I was shooting the ball." James had plenty of company in the subpar shooting category as Cleveland shot 36 percent from the field, including a woeful 4-of-26 from 3-point range.
ABOUT THE CELTICS (64-31 SU, 60-33-2 ATS, 51-43-1 O/U): Morris was one of three Boston players to reach the 20-point mark in the opener as shooting guard Jaylen Brown recorded 23 points and eight rebounds and center Al Horford had 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting. But the decision to elevate Morris into the starting power forward spot was the big difference-maker as a player who was just 18-of-59 shooting in the five-game series against Philadelphia made 7-of-12 shots and effectively hounded James. "He was able to really force the issue in the offensive end and make LeBron exert so much energy because then he has to come down and really guard him," backup point guard Marcus Smart told reporters. "Can't take plays off against really good players."
TRENDS:
* Cavaliers are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 vs. NBA Atlantic.
* Celtics are 14-2 ATS in their last 16 home games.
* Over is 5-2 in Cavaliers' last 7 overall.
* Over is 10-2 in Celtics' last 12 home games.
* Road team is 8-2 ATS in the last 10 meetings.
Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics Preview and Predictions 05-15-2018
14th May 2018 by Gracenote
marcus morris and his boston teammates got the best of lebron james in the opener of the eastern conference finals. the second-seeded celtics look to stymie the cleveland star for the second consecutive contest when they host the fourth-seeded cavaliers on tuesday in game 2 of the best-of-seven series.
morris helped hold james to 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting as boston roared to a 26-point halftime advantage en route to a 108-83 torching of cleveland in sunday's series opener. morris moved into the starting lineup and had 21 points and 10 rebounds after boasting prior to the opener that he is one of the best in the nba at defending james. "it's a team effort, man, it's not just me," morris told reporters after the easy victory. "everybody played their part in guarding him. he's obviously the best player in the game, and you need multiple guys and a team to guard him an entire game. i just think we did a great job of that." cavaliers veteran swingman kyle korver summed up the performance this way: "bad game, bad first game. there's lot of things we can do better in the next one."
tv: 8:30 p.m. et, espn
about the cavaliers: james also committed seven turnovers during his porous performance but he said he wasn't worried about his team trailing in the series. "i have zero level of concern at this stage," james told reporters. "i didn't go to college, so it's not march madness. you know, you get better throughout the series. you see ways you can get better throughout the series. but i've been down 0-1, i've been down 0-2, i've been down before in the postseason. but for me, there's never no level of concern, no matter how bad i played tonight with seven turnovers, how inefficient i was shooting the ball." james had plenty of company in the subpar shooting category as cleveland shot 36 percent from the field, including a woeful 4-of-26 from 3-point range.
about the celtics: morris was one of three boston players to reach the 20-point mark in the opener as shooting guard jaylen brown recorded 23 points and eight rebounds and center al horford had 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting. but the decision to elevate morris into the starting power forward spot was the big difference-maker as a player who was just 18-of-59 shooting in the five-game series against philadelphia made 7-of-12 shots and effectively hounded james. "he was able to really force the issue in the offensive end and make lebron exert so much energy because then he has to come down and really guard him," backup point guard marcus smart told reporters. "can't take plays off against really good players."
buzzer beaters
1. celtics sf jayson tatum scored 16 points in game 1 to halt his franchise rookie record of seven straight games of 20 or more points.
2. cleveland pf/c kevin love (17 points) was just 5-of-14 shooting in the opener after averaging 25 points on 26-of-48 shooting over the previous three playoff games.
3. boston pg terry rozier had just eight points in game 1 but also had eight assists against just one turnover.
prediction: cavaliers 113, celtics 107
NBA
Long Sheet
Tuesday, May 15
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CLEVELAND (58 - 36) at BOSTON (64 - 31) - 5/15/2018, 8:35 PM
Top Trends for this game.
CLEVELAND is 36-56 ATS (-25.6 Units) in all games this season.
CLEVELAND is 5-17 ATS (-13.7 Units) after a loss by 10 points or more this season.
CLEVELAND is 2-12 ATS (-11.2 Units) after scoring 85 points or less over the last 3 seasons.
BOSTON is 58-33 ATS (+21.7 Units) in all games this season.
BOSTON is 35-25 ATS (+7.5 Units) as a favorite this season.
BOSTON is 28-17 ATS (+9.3 Units) in home games this season.
BOSTON is 33-20 ATS (+11.0 Units) against Central division opponents over the last 2 seasons.
BOSTON is 8-0 ATS (+8.0 Units) in home games in all playoff games this season.
BOSTON is 18-9 ATS (+8.1 Units) after a win by 10 points or more this season.
BOSTON is 34-17 ATS (+15.3 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
BOSTON is 21-12 ATS (+7.8 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record - 2nd half of the season this season.
BOSTON is 30-18 ATS (+10.2 Units) versus poor defensive teams - allowing 106+ points/game this season.
BOSTON is 37-18 ATS (+17.2 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 106+ points/game this season.
BOSTON is 23-13 ATS (+8.7 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 106+ points/game - 2nd half of the season this season.
Head-to-Head Series History
BOSTON is 8-7 against the spread versus CLEVELAND over the last 3 seasons
CLEVELAND is 11-5 straight up against BOSTON over the last 3 seasons
9 of 16 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
NBA
Tuesday, May 15
Trend Report
Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland is 4-9 ATS in its last 13 games
Cleveland is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Cleveland's last 7 games
Cleveland is 6-3 ATS in its last 9 games on the road
Cleveland is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games when playing Boston
Cleveland is 15-5 SU in its last 20 games when playing Boston
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Cleveland's last 6 games when playing Boston
Cleveland is 8-3 ATS in its last 11 games when playing on the road against Boston
Cleveland is 8-3 SU in its last 11 games when playing on the road against Boston
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Cleveland's last 12 games when playing on the road against Boston
Boston Celtics
Boston is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games
Boston is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone OVER in 12 of Boston's last 17 games
Boston is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games at home
Boston is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 10 of Boston's last 12 games at home
Boston is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games when playing Cleveland
Boston is 5-15 SU in its last 20 games when playing Cleveland
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Boston's last 6 games when playing Cleveland
Boston is 3-8 ATS in its last 11 games when playing at home against Cleveland
Boston is 3-8 SU in its last 11 games when playing at home against Cleveland
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Boston's last 12 games when playing at home against Cleveland
Here are NBA playoffs betting stats thus far:
Home Teams:
47-19 Straight Up
36-29-1 ATS (55.38%)
Favorites:
50-16 Straight Up
38-27-1 ATS (58.46%)
Over-Under: 32-34