Cavs vs. Celtics Betting Line December 15
Carrie Stroup here with your Cavs vs. Celtics betting line for Tuesday night. Cleveland -1.5, Total: 202
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (15-7) at BOSTON CELTICS (14-10)
The Cavaliers will be going for their third straight victory when they face the Celtics at TD Garden on Tuesday.
The Cavaliers blew out the Magic 111-76 in Orlando on Dec. 11 and are now slowly starting to get healthy as Christmas nears. Cleveland is averaging 108.0 PPG over the past two contests and the team has shot over 50% from the field in each of those games.
Boston has won seven of its past 10 games SU and is 7-2-1 ATS in those contests. The Celtics defeated the Hornets 98-93 as three-point road underdogs on Saturday and are really playing well right now.
These teams have not yet met this season, but have played each other very closely over the years. Over the past three seasons, Cleveland is 6-5 SU but just 5-6 ATS versus Boston. The teams have split victories both SU and ATS when playing in Boston in that game. The Cavaliers enter this game 41-21 when playing only their second game in seven days since 1996. They are, however, a lousy 1-9 ATS after two or more consecutive wins this season.
The Cavaliers have won two straight games and SF LeBron James (26.4 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 6.4 APG, 1.4 SPG) has been shooting the ball very efficiently in those contests. James is averaging 29.0 PPG over the past two games and has shot 24-for-39 from the field. He will need to keep choosing his spots wisely and should be able to find success against the Celtics on Tuesday. He averaged 27.0 PPG, 9.0 RPG and 6.5 APG in a sweep over Boston in the playoffs last season and the roster has not changed drastically since then.
One player who will be very excited to play in this game is PF Kevin Love (17.8 PPG, 11.0 RPG). The Celtics injured Love in the first round of the playoffs a year ago and cost him an opportunity to play in the NBA Finals. He will surely be looking to take out some frustration by dominating this game on Tuesday.
The Celtics have played some very good basketball recently and PG Isaiah Thomas (20.8 PPG, 6.7 APG, 2.6 RPG, 1.5 SPG) has been playing like an All-Star. Over the past two games, Thomas is averaging 19.5 PPG, 11.5 APG and 5.5 RPG. He has a huge advantage in speed over all of the Cavs’ point guards and should really be able to get himself going on Tuesday.
SF Jae Crowder (12.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 2.0 SPG) will play a major role in this game for Boston. Crowder is averaging 15.5 PPG and 6.5 RPG over the past two games, but it is his defense that will be needed on Tuesday. Crowder will spend a majority of this game guarding LeBron James and he must hold his own if the Celtics are going to come away with this big home victory.
C Kelly Olynyk (9.3 PPG, 3.8 RPG) could also provide a spark for the Celtics. He has had two 20+-point games in the past four contests and is capable of getting hot in a hurry.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
