Boston Celtics (1) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (4)
Series odds: Boston -800 Cleveland +600
Season series: 2-2 tie
Maybe it just took the Boston Celtics seven full games against the lowly Atlanta Hawks to find their A-game. Or, maybe they just weren’t as ready for the postseason as they thought they were. Either way, don't expect the Cleveland Cavaliers to let them off the hook.
The Cavs survived six scrappy games against the Wizards, covering the number in each of their four wins, thanks in large part to LeBron James, of course. King James didn’t back down from Washington’s tough play in the paint and he’ll likely cause some major problems for the Celtics too after averaging 32.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 9.7 assists in three games against Boston this season.
But everybody knows what LeBron’s all about. Cleveland’s going to need a lot of help from James’ supporting cast to keep up with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen, though it looks like Daniel Gibson, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and ex-Celtics Wally Szczerbiak, and Delonte West could be ready to help out after some good work against Washington.
The first quarter will be particularly important in this series. Boston loves to come out and drop its pressure defense on teams early, trying to bury teams before they know what happened, so the longer Cleveland can hang around the better for Cavs bettors. The same holds true for the series in general, too. When the Celtics start fast and their shots are going down early there aren't many teams that keep up, and when they're doing that at home when the Garden's going bananas you can be two games behind in a hurry.
That's what LeBron and the Cavs need to avoid. If they can steal one of the first couple on the road, this series is going to be a lot closer than the series odds would have you believe. Boston is a deeper, stronger team, but if we're talking series prices, I wouldn't touch the C's at -800. Throw a little sprinkle on the Cavs instead.
Covers.com prediction: Cavs in seven
Raji |