2010 NBA Playoffs: Cavaliers vs. Celtics Picks & Predictions

Last Updated on May 1, 2010 3:00 pm by drew

Cavaliers-Celtics Pick

The second round of the 2010 NBA Playoffs begin on Saturday when the Cleveland Cavaliers square off with the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

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The Cavaliers are the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference while the Celtics are the No. 4 seed.
Oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com have made

Cleveland the overwhelming favorites to win the series with a money line of -450 while the Celtics have a line of +325.

In four games this season,
Cleveland has won two and

Boston has won two. Both of the Celtics’ wins came by single digits while the Cavaliers won by at least 10 points in both victories.
Cleveland shot over 50 percent in two of the games and had a better shooting percentage than

Boston in three of the four meetings.

The Cavaliers are coming off a 4-1 series win over No. 8

Chicago. The Cavs lone loss was a narrow 2-point decision.

Cleveland shot 49.1 percent in the series and averaged 106.2 points per-game while holding the Bulls to 97 points per-game.

Cleveland finished the regular season with the best record in the league at 61-21. The Cavaliers had the best home record in the league at 35-6 and they were also 38-14 against the rest of the Eastern Conference. LeBron James leads the Cavs with 29.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 8.6 assists per-game during the season. James is shoots 50.3 percent from the field and also shoots 76 percent from the free throw line. Mo Williams and Antawn Jamison are each averaging 15 points per-game for

Cleveland.

The Celtics are coming off an impressive 4-1 series win over No. 5

Miami. The Celtics dominated most of the series, winning three games by nine points or more.

Boston averaged 95.8 points per-game while giving up just 87.6 points.

Boston also shot 47 percent from the field in the series and 43.9 percent from 3-point land.

Boston was 50-32 during the regular season.

Boston was 24-17 at home and 26-15 on the road. The road record was tied for the best in the Eastern Conference. Against the East as a whole, the Celtics are 33-19. Paul Pierce is leading

Boston with 18.3 points per-game while Ray Allen adds 16.3 points and Kevin Garnett scores 14.4 points per-game. Rajon Rondo averages 13.7 points and 9.8 assists per-game.

The Celtics certainly are going to give
Cleveland all it can handle, as many of the vets on
Boston know this may be their last chance for glory, but the Cavs seem to be title or bust, and

Boston won’t be able to keep up with LeBron and the younger, faster Cavaliers.

Our NBA Playoff Series Free Pick for this matchup is:

CLEVELAND -450

(Note: This free pick is for the entire seven game series and is not to be confused with our daily NBA picks, which are for individual games.)
NBA Playoffs Betting Trends


BOSTON is 37-48 ATS (-15.8 Units) in all games this season.

BOSTON is 16-27 ATS (-13.7 Units) versus good offensive teams – scoring 99+ points/game this season.

CLEVELAND is 98-82 ATS (+7.8 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.

CLEVELAND is 84-67 ATS (+10.3 Units) as a favorite over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History

CLEVELAND is 14-5 against the spread versus

BOSTON over the last 3 seasons  

BOSTON is 10-9 straight up against

CLEVELAND over the last 3 seasons 

10 of 19 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons 

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BOSTON

No significant injuries.

CLEVELAND

[F] 04/27/2010 – LeBron James probable Saturday vs

Boston ( Elbow ) 

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Cleveland Cavaliers -450

Boston Celtics +325

Cavaliers vs. Celtics Series Schedule:

Saturday, May 1 at

Cleveland, 8PM on TNT

Monday, May 3 at

Cleveland, 8PM on TNT

Friday, May 7 at

Boston, 7PM on ESPN

Sunday, May 9 at

Boston, 3:30PM on ABC

*Tuesday, May 11 at Cleveland, TBA on TNT

*Thursday, May 13 at

Boston, TBA on ESPN

*Sunday, May 16 at

Cleveland, 3:30PM on ABC

*If Necessary

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Posted: 5/1/10 3:00PM ET