NBA Odds: Celtics Very Heavy Betting Favorites Against Terrible Cavs
The Boston Celtics will be looking to end a two-game straight-up losing streak on home hardwood when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night as 13.5-point favorites on the NBA odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Boston returns home after tallying a 124-107 win in New Orleans against the Pelicans as a 2-point underdog Monday and has claimed SU and against the spread wins in two of three games ahead of Friday night’s Cavaliers vs. Celtics betting matchup at TD Garden.
However, the Celtics largely have struggled during November, posting consecutive SU wins just once while going 6-8 SU, including a pair of losses as betting favorites in their past two home outings.
The Celtics produced their lowest point total of the season in a 98-86 loss to the visiting Utah Jazz as 4-point chalk on Nov. 17. The C’s followed up four days later with a 117-109 loss to the New York Knicks as 14.5-point favorites, marking their second outright loss of the season as double-digit home chalk.
Not surprisingly, the Celtics also have struggled to regularly reward bettors during their middling November run, going 5-9 ATS, including a 3-2 ATS mark at home. That trend extends to the club’s performance as big home favorites, with the Celtics covering in just three of 15 outings when favored at home by 10 or more points since the beginning the 2016-17 season, according to the OddsShark NBA Database.
However, the Celtics should have ample opportunity to reverse those trends against a Cavaliers squad searching for answers after opening the season with just four SU victories through its first 20 outings.
While it was Cleveland that emerged victorious in a seven-game clash with the Celtics in last spring’s Eastern Conference finals, it’s a different club that will visit TD Garden on Friday. With LeBron James no longer leading the attack, the Cavaliers’ offense has wilted in the early going.
Cleveland has mustered an average of just 89 points per game during its current two-game SU slide, capped by a 100-83 loss in Oklahoma City as a 12.5-point underdog on Wednesday night, and now sits last the NBA at just 103.5 points per game this season.
The Cavaliers also have struggled on the road, dropping their first eight decisions before tallying a 121-112 win in Philadelphia against the 76ers as 13-point underdogs last Friday, but own a respectable 6-4 ATS record away from Quicken Loans Arena. However, even when James was in the lineup, the Cavaliers were a shaky bet when visiting Boston, going 6-6 SU and ATS over their past 12 such meetings.
