The Celtics dominated Game 1 of this series, beating the Cavaliers 120-95. Boston now has an average margin of victory of 22.6 points in their 5 playoff victories.
Kristaps Porzingis remains out indefinitely for Boston, while the Cavs will be without Dean Wade. Jarrett Allen is listed as questionable, but his return seems doubtful after reports that he remains in 'excruciating pain' due to a rib injury.
After closing as 12.5-point favorites in Game 1, the Celtics opened as 13.5 point favorites for Game 2. The total opened at 212.5, with the consensus line currently sitting at 212.
This game will kick off tonight's ESPN doubleheader with a tip set for 7:00 PM EDT.
While our lean for the game would be to take the 14 points with the Cavs, we are willing to lay the 4.5-point first quarter spread. The Celtics won the first quarter of game 1 by 6 points, and going back to the regular season, won the previous 2 first quarters by 8 points and 9 points.
We are laying -110 at most bookmakers with this bet, so also worth considering is a quarter/game moneyline bet, which moves the Celtics moneyline from -950 to -190.
After scoring just 14 points on a -19 performance in Game 1 against Boston, we are continuing to take Garland’s point total under. DG is a great playmaker (5.4 APG this postseason), but continues to struggle to find opportunities to score in bunches.
Against a tough Boston backcourt that features White, Holiday, and Pritchard, expect Garland to drive some of the offense toward Cavs shooters such as Niang, Strus, and LeVert more in Game 2. Those three Cav wings only combined for 1 made 3-pointer in Game 1.
Payton Pritchard entering his prime as a spark plug off the bench is a scary, efficient thing. PP dropped 16 points on 4 threes made in Game 1, and there’s a good chance that number doesn’t significantly drop tonight.
The Cavs didn’t have to guard a player like Pritchard in the seven-game Orlando series and are struggling to decide who to leave on the feisty guard who also managed to grab five boards.
Off just one night of rest, the Celtics backup guard shot 40.5% from deep scoring 9.1 PPG during the regular season. These sorts of numbers are extremely reachable in Game 2.