NBA Odds: Celtics Seek 3-0 Series Lead As Game 3 Underdogs At Cavaliers
The Boston Celtics will be looking to take a commanding 3-0 series lead in the Eastern Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers when they take the court Saturday for Game 3 as 6.5-point road underdogs on the NBA odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Boston took firm control of the series Tuesday with a 107-94 win in a Game 2 clash pegged as a pick ’em, and now has claimed straight-up wins in seven of eight outings going into Saturday night’s Celtics vs. Cavaliers betting matchup at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Celtics’ early-series dominance of Cleveland is reflected on the NBA playoff series prices, where they have moved to -210 favorites after opening their clash with LeBron James and the Cavaliers as +230 underdogs.
The team continues to hold steady as a +800 bet to claim their first NBA championship since 2008. That is well ahead of the +2000 odds they sported at the outset of the regular season.
However, concerns remain about Boston’s performance on the road during this postseason. The Celtics have posted just one SU win in five playoff road dates, and are 1-7 SU in their past eight overall away from TD Garden while covering the spread on just three occasions, all as underdogs.
The Cavaliers have their backs to the wall as they go into Game 3 facing a 2-0 series deficit in the Eastern Finals for the first time since 2007. And while Cleveland would successfully mount an unlikely turnaround in its clash with the Detroit Pistons 11 years ago, powering to four straight wins to advance to the NBA Finals, such comebacks are exceedingly rare in the NBA playoffs, with just 19 of 300 teams accomplishing the feat since 1969.
The Cavaliers have managed to turn the tables on two occasions, rebounding with four straight wins to knock off the Pistons in that 2007 matchup, and overcoming both 2-0 and 3-1 series deficits in their march to a Finals victory over the Golden State Warriors in 2016.
However, if Cleveland is to get back into this series, it must overcome the offensive woes that limited the club to an average of just 88.5 points through the first two games. That marks a dramatic dip in production after the Cavaliers averaged 118.5 points per game during their second-round sweep of the Toronto Raptors, and has produced wins in totals betting for the UNDER, which has prevailed in nine of Cleveland’s past 12 home outings.
