Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics: Game 3 Prediction, Betting Odds For 2018 NBA Playoffs

There are a couple of ways to look at the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers: either Cleveland is overmatched and this will be a short series or Boston simply took care of business at home and the Cavs should do the same.

Cleveland entered the series as the prohibitive favorites with the best player. LeBron James was neutralized in a blowout Game 1 loss, and his stellar Game 2 performance wasn’t enough to keep the Cavs from suffering a second straight double-digit defeat.

What does that mean for Cleveland’s chances in Game 3?

The Cavs are favored, just as they were to win each contest at TD Garden. The betting line is 6.5 points, according to OddsShark, and the over/under is 205.

Even if Boston is the far superior team, James should find a way to win at least one game. He hasn’t been swept in a playoff series since he carried an unimpressive roster to the 2007 NBA Finals as a 22-year-old. James helped Cleveland get a win in last year’s finals against a dominant Golden State Warriors’ team that went undefeated in the Western Conference Playoffs.

The last two games have made it easy to forget about how pedestrian Boston looked at times in the first two rounds. The Celtics went 0-3 on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks, losing twice by double digits and needing a Game 7 victory to advance. Boston split their two road games in Philadelphia, squeaking out a Game 3 overtime win because of costly mistakes made by the 76ers.

Maybe the Celtics are a much-improved team from the one that entered the playoffs in mid-April.

They’ve had more time to learn how to play without Kyrie Irving, who was the team’s leading scorer for 60 games before a knee injury ended his season. Rookie Jayson Tatum has grown up this postseason, becoming Boston’s No.1 scoring option after scoring eight points or fewer in two of his first five playoff games. Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier are also seemingly getting better with more playoff experience.

Brad Stevens might be the NBA’s best head coach, and his adjustments over the course of a series give Boston an edge. He engineered the league’s top defense in the regular season, and the unit has been terrific this postseason.

As Game 2 showed, there’s only so much Stevens and Boston’s versatile defenders can do against the best basketball player on the planet. James took just one uncontested shot Tuesday night, and he put up a 42-point triple-double on 55 percent shooting. He’s averaging 37.7 points on 22.5 shots in six home playoff games.

Boston has proved to be a tough place for road teams to play this postseason. That’s especially been the case for Cleveland’s role players.

If James can get any sort of help from guys like Jeff Green, George Hill and J.R. Smith—they are a combined eight-of-32 from the field this series—Cleveland can show that they aren’t quite dead yet.

Game 3 Prediction: Cleveland over Boston, 110-99