2015 NBA Playoffs Free Picks & Expert Predictions – Boston Celtics @ Cleveland Cavaliers Game 1 Preview: Lebron James begins his quest to bring the Cleveland Cavaliers their first ever NBA Championship and the city of Cleveland’s first professional sports championship in any sport since 1964 when he leads his Cleveland Cavaliers against the Boston Celtics in the 1st game of a seven game series on Sunday. The game is set to tip off at 3:05 PM EST from the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland and the NBA betting odds at Bovada Sportsbook have the Cavaliers listed as -11.5 point favorites with the total at over/under 203 points. Let’s take a look at this matchup and find out who we are going to place our money on to make some money betting on the 2015 NBA Playoffs Sunday.
2015 Free NBA Playoffs Picks: Boston Celtics @ Cleveland Cavaliers Game 1 Betting Odds and Expert NBA Predictions
The #7 seeded Boston Celtics are a surprise entry into the 2015 NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs after finishing 40-42 overall in what was supposed to be another rebuilding year for the Celtics that was to earn them another lottery pick. However, those plans were foiled largely due to the extraordinary coaching effort by head coach Brad Stevens. The 38 year-old former head coach of Butler University is in only his 2nd NBA season as a head coach but already is one of the Top 5 head coaches in the game in our opinion. Yes, folks, the guy is simply that good. Stevens led a team that was under constant turnover throughout the season up until the trade deadline as Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge traded away arguably the Celtics’ top two players in Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green among others. Those trades, however, turned into gold as the team chemistry improved and the Celtics really started to gel under Stevens’ tutelage.
The trade that really sprung the Celtics from an afterthought around the league and into a team that had to be taken serious was the trade for former Phoenix Suns guard Isiah Thomas. The 5-9, 185 pound diminutive guard really excelled in being the 6th man for the Celtics down the stretch and he averaged a stellar 19 points per game and 5.4 assists for Boston in 21 games since being acquired. The Celtics as a team finished the season on a 6-0 run and an impressive 6-0 against the spread.
The Cleveland Cavaliers enter the 2015 NBA Playoffs with the best odds to win the 2015 NBA Championship according to the odds makers at Bovada. The Cavs finished the regular season with an overall record of 53-29 including 31-10 overall at home. The Cavaliers started of the season poorly and much of the talk around the NBA was about the rift that seemed to exist between Lebron James and the rest of his teammates. Many people wondered if a shoot first guard in Kyrie Irving and a power forward that was used to hoisting up shots at will in Kevin Love could co-exist with Lebron who loves to have the ball in his hands. However, the Cavs finished the second half of the season as arguably the best team in the NBA and appear ready to make a deep run in the NBA Playoffs.
The Cavaliers beat the Celtics in the first two matchups between these teams with wins by scores of 122-121 and 110-79. However, the Celtics came back and won two games against the Cavaliers in the past few week in games that were more important to Boston than Cleveland as they won by scores of 99-90 and 117-78. The talent level of these two teams is not close in our eyes. Cleveland has the superior talent by far and the more veteran ball club. However, don’t underestimate the coaching ability of Stevens and the tenacity that the Celtics team has played with as they’ve made their playoff run the past couple months. We look for this series to go longer than the experts are predicting and we expect Boston to be in most, if not all, the games. We look for the Cavs to win Game 1 but we’ll take the +11.5 points with Boston to get us the money. Get more free NBA expert picks daily on our top NBA play page.
Free NBA Picks: Take the Boston Celtics +11.5 against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 on Sunday.
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