Putting up historic numbers is nothing new for the Boston Celtics this season, but the way they’ve looked in these 5 games since the All-Star break is something special. They’re beating teams by an average of 26.2 points, Sunday’s 52-point win over Golden State was their 3rd 50+ point victory of the season which is most any team has ever had in a single season. The game was pretty much decided after the first quarter when the Cs led by 22 points, so the likes of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and others got enough rest ahead of tonight’s game at Cleveland. To top it all off, Boston wasn’t even at full strength in that game as Kristaps Porzingis sat out with a quad issue. This team has won 11 straight and 8 in a row on the road, against Cleveland they are 14-6 SU in the last 20 meetings.
The Cavs have lost both meetings to Boston this season, they’re in a difficult spot here following an unexpected 107-98 home loss to the Knicks. I say unexpected because early in the game New York lost it’s best player Jalen Brunson to an injury, but despite that the Cavs fell flat and couldn’t do much. Donovan Mitchell missed his 2nd straight game, he is out indefinitely with a knee problem. Alongside him the Cavs won’t be able to count on Max Strus, while Caris LeVert and Isaac Okoro are questionable. The only bright spot for Cleveland here is the fact that they’re playing at home where they’ve gone 20-11 SU this season, but as underdogs they have just 8 wins in 18 games. A drop in form has been noticeable over the last 9 games, they’ve covered just once during that stretch.
