Top-rated sportsbooks have released their NBA odds for Game 5 between the Cavaliers and Celtics. For your best bets, I will recommend investing in the Celtics.
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NBA Pick: Celtics -15.5 (-110) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics
Wednesday, May 15, 2024 – 07:00 PM ET at TD Garden
Cleveland’s Road Trend
The Cavaliers, under their current coaching staff, have covered one road playoff game in seven tries.
Their shooting, as has been the case this regular season, declines tremendously in road games. Even with a healthy Donovan Mitchell (who is excelling), they repeatedly struggle this year to exceed 95 points.
They caught Boston, in Game 2, being unfocused – the Celtics also lapsed in Game 2 against Miami. But Boston’s defense has returned to form, holding Cleveland to 93 points in Game 3 and holding a Cleveland offense that was a less predictable new-look unit without Mitchell to 102 points in Game 5, despite Max Strus’ characteristic shooting prowess at home.
With or without Mitchell, Cleveland will be a team that Boston is very prepared for.
Close-Out Game for Boston
History also suggests that the Celtics will be locked-in in this situation.
In their last close-out games in which they won, the Celtics beat Miami 118-84 for their biggest win of that series; they beat the 76ers last year 112-88 for their second-biggest win of that series; they won at Atlanta and likewise covered the spread.
Difference in Firepower
The spread might seem large given how close the final score was in Game 4, but Boston also won Game 1 by 25 despite Mitchell playing.
Without a healthy Mitchell, and without the team shooting well – Strus, for example, is shooting awfully on the road this postseason – there just aren’t a lot of paths for Cleveland to reach even 90 points, especially since Boston now knows well what a no-Mitchell Cleveland offense looks like.
Besides Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and Caris LeVert, we have a bunch of single-digit scorers.
From Downtown
Conversely, Boston is one of the NBA’s top two three-point shooting teams. Jayson Tatum is finally figuring things out scoring-wise. He is clearly very tough for any defender to guard. His step-back is so nasty partly because he is very dangerous driving to the basket, although he also shoots well.
He and Jaylen Brown will easily be two of the top three scorers in the game. Jrue Holiday and Derrick White are shooting great from deep. Payton Pritchard, who admirably runs the offense, gets teammates involved and scores in isolation, will come dangerously close to outscoring Cleveland’s bench by himself.
With All-NBA Defensive Team selections Holiday and White, Boston has the personnel to limit Cleveland’s preferred scoring options besides Mobley, while the Celtics boast reliable 25-to-35-point scorers – in Tatum and Brown – and consistent firepower largely in the form of excellent shooters surrounding them.
NBA Pick: Celtics -15.5 (-110) at BetOnline
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
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