Cleveland Cavaliers @ Boston Celtics 7:00pm EST

Celtics -15.5 -110 (1u)

Tonight in the NBA, we go to Boston, where the Celtics look to close out the Cavaliers on their home floor. The Celtics took Game 4 by a score of 109-102 on the road in Cleveland. Donovan Mitchell is once again out for the Cavs as they try and fight off elimination.

We like the Celtics to close out tonight in dominant fashion, as they will look to get a few days rest and await the winner of the Pacers/Knicks series. The Celtics were 12.5 favorites in Game 4, as they won by 7, but not after a late meaningless 3 by the Cavaliers. We believe that the energy in the Garden will play a factor tonight. The Celtics have won in the playoffs by getting off to hot starts in the first half, namely the first quarter, where they are averaging 32.75 points in this series. An interesting stat from @SBBreakers on X that we cannot ignore is that the Cavs are 0-11 ATS since March 2019 with rest coming off a loss where they covered by more than 3 points. Now, past performance is not indicative of future performance, especially in sports, but it is a prevalent trend that is hard to ignore. On average, in these games, Cleveland has failed to cover by an average of 16.1 PPG.

The absence of Donovan Mitchell is significant for the Cavaliers, as this year, they are 12-15 without him. In the losses, Cleveland loses by an average of 13 points per game. They will turn to Darius Garland, Caris Levert and Evan Mobley to carry the load once again. The trio of Derrick White, Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brown should be too much to handle for the Cavs once again. Look for the Celtics to dominate the glass once again and contain Garland as they cruise in this one to cover the spread and get a few days off.