When a side takes a 2-0 lead before the series changes location, you’d think that they have held firm at home. In the Cleveland Cavaliers case, they’ve dominated the Celtics in the opening games in Boston and will now have a great opportunity to close out the series at home in games three and four. We preview Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals tipping off at 10.30am this Monday, the 22nd of May below.
The Celtics copped one of the worst losses in their storied history on Saturday as they were absolutely decimated by the Cavaliers to the tune of 44 points. The loss was made even more disappointing for the Celtics as star point guard Isaiah Thomas suffered a hip injury that will rule him our for the rest of the season.
LeBron James was once again dominant finishing with 30 points and 7 assists in just 33 minutes of play. Eight different Celtics were tasked with the duty of guarding James throughout the course of the game but none proved capable of stemming his production as the King led the Cavs to a 10-0 record in the playoffs so far.
Gerald Green was inserted into the starting line-up as an attempted foil for James as well as at times playing the rookie Jaylen Brown on him but ultimately James had his way with the Celtics, scoring at will and setting up his teammates for open three pointers. The Cavs hit 19 3pt shots in the win as Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving went for 7 between them.
The Celtics have no answer for the sheer shooting power that the Cavs have, with 8 of the just over 50 active NBA players with 700 or more 3pt makes playing for the Cavs in Irving, Love, James, James Jones, Richard Jefferson, Deron Williams, Channing Frye, Kyle Korver and J.R Smith. With all that experience from behind the line, the destined Cavs vs Warriors finals is set to be a good one.
The Cavs should dominate the Celtics here, and I expect the Cleveland key players to once again be coming out of the game at sometime throughout the third quarter, especially LeBron James.
TIP: LeBron James UNDER 32.5 Points - $1.90 at Sportsbet
With no Isaiah Thomas in the line-up and the Cavaliers playing a good brand of defence at the moment, points should be hard to come by for the Celtics. We saw them muster just 86 points in Game 2 and their line of 99.5 for this game should be a little high.
TIP: Boston Celtics UNDER 99.5 Points - $1.90 at Sportsbet
