Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics: Game 4 Prediction, Betting Odds For 2018 NBA Playoffs

The Cleveland Cavaliers host the Boston Celtics in a pivotal Game 4 Monday night. A win guarantees that LeBron James and Co. will return home for Game 6 later in the week, while a loss would send the defending Eastern Conference champions back to Boston with their season on life support.

If Cleveland wants to reach their fourth straight NBA Finals, they’ll likely have to match Boston. The Celtics won the first two games of the conference finals at TD Garden, and the Cavaliers answered with a Game 3 victory at Quicken Loans Arena.

As well as Boston played in Game 1 and Game 2, that’s how poorly they played in their first road game of the series. Cleveland won 116-86, leading by at least 20 points for the entirety of the second half.

Cleveland is favored by seven points in Game 4, according to OddsShark. The over/under is 206.

Boston has struggled on the road this postseason, losing five of six games. Their only playoff win away from home came in Game 3 of the conference semifinals when they beat the Philadelphia 76ers in overtime.

“I feel like we needed this (loss) to get us back … to get us ready for Monday,” Celtics point guard Terry Rozier said, via NBC Sports Boston.

“We needed to get our butts whipped. Come back to reality and take care of business on Monday.”

Rozier had just two assists in 28 minutes, scoring 13 points on 12 shots. Al Horford only attempted four field goals in 30 minutes. Boston missed 16 of their 22 three-point attempts and got little production from their bench when the game was within reach.

The Celtics’ defense, which ranked first in the regular season and had done a terrific job against the Cavs in the first two games, was the biggest issue. LeBron James did whatever he wanted with 27 points on eight-of-12 shooting and 12 assists. He finally got help from his supporting cast this series as the rest of the Cavs went 14-34 from three-point range.

The production of players like Kevin Love, J.R. Smith and George Hill could ultimately determine the result of Game 4. Smith finally began to make shots in Game 3, and Hill was able to get to the rim.

Considering the way Boston has performed on the road, it could be another big night for James and his teammates.

Prediction: Cleveland over Boston, 105-100