Cleveland at Boston

Boston has been a tale of two teams in the playoffs. They have been completely listless on offense on the road, having yet to find the win column, going 0-6 both SU and ATS. At home it has been a completely different story, where they are a perfect 7-0 SU, and 5-2 ATS. So why the stark contrast? Most will point to offense but we think it's actually about defense first. The Celtics simply play in your face defense at home, with a great intensity for 48 minutes. They then find more open looks as a result that fuels the offense. The proof is easy to find, as the Celtics have allowed 542 points in seven home games, but 572 in six road games. That's a huge 17.9 ppg difference! Cleveland is a team that really feeds off their home crowd and kills all comers on the boards at home. While the Celtics played great defense in game six, holding Cleveland to 32.9% from the field, second-chance opportunities were plentiful for the Cavs which let them win. On the road, without the crowd cheering on their team and keeping LeBron afloat when he struggles, they are not nearly the same team. The Cavs are 4-12 ATS this season after covering the spread in two straight games. They did a great job at home against a dissapointing Celtics team. But, this game is in Boston and Cleveland is again in trouble. Boston already has five double-digit playoff wins at home, and 32 on the season. We like their chances here to make that 33. Take the Celtics for a nice double-digit convincing home win.