Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics Game 6 Prediction: LeBron James, Home Court Give Cavs Edge

If the first five games of the Eastern Conference Finals are any indication, the Game 6 result isn't hard to predict. The Cleveland Cavaliers will hold serve at home against the Boston Celtics Friday night, forcing a deciding Game 7 with a trip to the 2018 NBA Finals on the line.

Each contest has held true to the same basic formula of the home team dominating and winning comfortably. Four of the five games have been decided by double digits, and the Celtics barely kept Game 4 within single digits when they lost 111-102.

Game 2 was the most unique game of the series. Led by LeBron James’ 21 first-quarter points, Cleveland jumped out to an early lead and led by as many as 11 points. Boston quickly closed the gap in the second half and had an 11-point lead of their own within a minute of the fourth quarter. The Cavs never trailed by fewer than six points after that and were defeated 107-94.

In Game 1, Boston doubled-up Cleveland in the first quarter 36-18 and never looked back. The Cavs had a similar victory when they returned to Quicken Loans Arena, taking a 34-19 lead into the second quarter and winning Game 3 by 30 points. Boston dug themselves a hole they weren’t able to climb out of when they were outscored by 16 points in the opening quarter of Game 4. The pattern continued in Game 5 when the Celtics won the first 12 minutes 32-19 and went on to defeat the Cavs by that same margin.

The home/road splits have been stark for Boston the entire postseason. The Celtics are now a perfect 10-0 at home and just 1-6 on the road. Their only win away from TD Garden came in overtime.

Boston looked like the superior team Wednesday night. James turned the ball over six times and couldn’t finish easily at the rim like he has at other times this postseason. He got little help from his teammates, who combined to shoot 38.5 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from three-point range.

Much of the credit goes to Boston’s No.1 ranked defense, but Cleveland deserves a large share of the blame. J.R. Smith, George Hill and Tristan Thompson had almost no impact on the offensive end, missing 12 of 14 shots with four assists and one offensive rebound. Kyle Korver inexplicably played just 19 minutes despite arguably being the team’s second-best player in the playoffs.

Expect that to change at Quicken Loans Arena, where Hill and Smith have been much more effective. The Celtics and Cavs played each other to a tie when Korver was on the court in Game 5, and head coach Tyronn Lue will likely play him closer to the 25 minutes he received in Game 4.

The Celtics haven’t been nearly as locked-in defensively on the road. The Cavs are averaging 113.5 points per game at home this series with James making 62.5 percent of his shots. Smith has 20 points in two home games and six points in three games in Boston. Hill has 26 points in Cleveland and 15 points at TD Garden.

James isn’t going to go away quietly. With no room for error, the time for saving any energy is over. Another flawless performance by James should open up opportunities for the rest of the Cavs, continuing Boston’s road struggles and extending the series.

Game 6 Prediction: Cleveland over Boston, 110-98