NBA betting favors Cleveland on Sunday as they host the Boston Celtics in a game that can be seen on ABC. Cleveland still leads the Eastern Conference and looks like an NBA Finals contender but Boston has slipped in basketball betting and now may have to fight just to get the home court advantage in the first round.
NBA betting has seen Boston and Cleveland split their last ten meetings. What is strange about their games this season is that the road team won both times. Cleveland won 108-88 in Boston while the Celtics pulled out a 95-89 win at Cleveland. The Celtics victory at Cleveland was back in October and Boston is nowhere near as good a team as they were back then. The Celtics look old uninspired and a team that is not going to challenge in the Eastern Conference. This game against Cleveland should at least get their attention though since it is on national television and against the best team in the Easter Conference. Three of the last four in this series have gone over the total and that is surprising considering both teams play very good defense.
Cleveland has slipped a little bit lately but that is mainly due to injuries. LeBron James missed a couple of games and Antawn Jamison has also missed time. They should have both players ready for Sunday’s NBA betting matchup.
The one thing with Boston this season has been their home/road records against the NBA betting odds. The Celtics are far better on the road vs. basketball betting odds than at home. That may give them a chance in this game against the Cavaliers. Boston is second in the league in defense but their offense is sporadic at best as they rank 19th in the league. Those are just not good enough numbers and it is why Boston has struggled.
Cleveland has been similar to Boston in one respect in that they are far better against the NBA betting odds on the road than at home. The Cavaliers are overvalued at home and they have not been covering the spread on a regular basis. Cleveland is fourth in the league in fewest points allowed and they have moved up to seventh in the NBA in points per game. LeBron is having another MVP season and the Cavaliers have some other players who can score including Jamison and Mo Williams.