Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics: betting odds and predictions for May 7th

The Cleveland Cavaliers just had a historic second-half comeback to take game 7 against the Orlando Magic and move onto the semifinals where they will head out on the road to take on the No. 1 seeded Boston Celtics in this Tuesday night playoff matchup for game 1 of the series. We take a look at this matchup to make a Cavaliers-Celtics prediction and pick.

(Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)

Cleveland (52-37) was on the verge of having their season come to an abrupt end in the first round of playoffs after an abysmal first half against the Magic where they were down by 12 points. However, in the second half, Donovan Mitchell had a performance for the ages as he finished with the third most points in a game 7 in Cavaliers' history with 39 points. Mitchell put the team on his back when the Cavaliers scored 66 points in the second half to defeat the Magic 106-94. Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers will look to continue this momentum when they take on the No. 1 seeded Boston Celtics in game one on the road at the TD Garden on Tuesday night.

Boston (68-19) had some much-needed rest after finishing off the Miami Heat in five games. With the Heat's lack of depth after Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier went down with injuries, Boston was able to do as they pleased covering the spread in all four of the games to win the series. It was the Celtics' lights-out shooting from 3-point range combined with the defense that got them to the semifinals with relative ease but now they have a much tougher task at hand when they take Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, Boston is still favored to win the series and will need to set the tone early in the series when they welcome Cleveland to town for game one at the TD Garden on Tuesday night.

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS VS. BOSTON CELTICS FANDUEL ODDS FOR MAY 7

MONEY LINE

• CLEVELAND CAVALIERS: +420
• BOSTON CELTICS: -560

SPREAD

• CLEVELAND CAVALIERS: +11 (-108)
• BOSTON CELTICS: -11 (-112)

OVER/UNDER (TOTAL)

• OVER 209 (-110)
• UNDER 209  (-110)

BEST ODDS FOR CLEVELAND CAVALIERS VS. BOSTON CELTICS

• The Boston Celtics are -11-point favorites against the Cleveland Cavaliers. BetRivers currently has the best odds at -11 (-113)
• The Cleveland Cavaliers are the underdogs by 11 points to cover the spread. BetMGM currently has the best odds at +11.5 (-115)
• FanDuel currently has the best odds for the total, which is set at 209 (-110) for the over, and (-110) for the under

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CLEVELAND CAVALIERS VS. BOSTON CELTICS INJURY REPORT

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS INJURY REPORT

• CRAIG PORTER JR. - QUES TUES - ANKLE
• JARRETT ALLEN - QUES TUES - RIBS
• DEAN WADE - OUT - KNEE
• TY JEROME - OUT - ANKLE

BOSTON CELTICS INJURY REPORT INJURY REPORT

• KRISTAPS PORZINGIS - OUT - CALF

WHY CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL COVER THE SPREAD

The Cleveland Cavaliers had to fight hard in their series against the Orlando Magic. They had to play 7 games and after two quarters looked like they were on the brink of elimination. After a heroic effort from Donovan Mitchell, the Cleveland Cavaliers playoff hopes live on. Now, they will need that same type of effort from Mitchell and the rest of this Cavaliers team if they think they are going to get past the Boston Celtics not only in game one on the road but in the series.

Donovan Mitchell has been a human cheat code for the Cavaliers during their playoff run. During the seven-game series, he put up 28.7 points on 45.9% shooting from the floor in 37.4 minutes per game. While Mitchell has been clutch for the Cavaliers they are going to need the rest of the team to step up in their toughest assignment of the season. With the absence of Porzingis, the Celtics will have trouble defending in the paint and with the Cavaliers having one of the best frontcourts with Evan Mobley and Jarret Allen they can exploit that weakness.

If the Cavaliers can avoid getting down by a big margin early they have the chance to keep this game closely contested throughout as long as they handle the Celtics' 3-point shooting and even possibly score the colossal upset.

WHY BOSTON CELTICS WILL COVER THE SPREAD

The Boston Celtics are the odds-on favorite to win it all this season and for good reason. They have been historically good and they've been dominant for the entire NBA season which includes the NBA playoffs. The Celtics downed the Miami Heat in five games with relative ease even without one of their premier player Kristaps Porzingis in the lineup who will also be out for this series against the Cavaliers. The Celtics will be looking to bring their momentum from their series victory against Miami into this semifinal matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Jaylen Brown has been leading the charge averaging 22.8 ppg to go along with 7.0 rebounds per game this playoffs. However Jayson Tatum (21.8 ppg, 10.4 reb) and Derrick White (22.4 ppg, 47.% 3P) have been producing at a high level as well making them a dynamic trio in the playoffs. Also, the Celtics have been one of the best 3-point shooting teams all season long, and in the playoffs, it has been no different as they are second among all teams in the playoffs shooting 38.5% from 3-point range but they are tops making 15 3s per game.

The Celtics seem to be destined to do great things this postseason but they must continue their dominance when the Cleveland Cavaliers come to town for game one for this semifinals matchup with the way things are going they have a great opportunity to not only win their first game of the series but also cover the spread as well.

FINAL CAVALIERS-CELTICS PICK & PREDICTION

The Cleveland Cavaliers have some uphill sledding ahead of them going against the top-seeded Boston Celtics. While the Cavaliers are healthy for the most part in terms of their starting lineup, it's a tall task going against this Boston Celtics team who are by far the deepest team in the Eastern Conference.

While it isn't for the faint at heart to lay 11 points, it is recommended here when the team you're laying points with is the Boston Celtics, especially after seeing some of the weaknesses that the Orlando Magic exposed against the Cavaliers in their last matchup.

As long as this Celtics squad does what they do best in this home matchup as expected they should come away with another dominant outing against the Cavaliers in this semifinal matchup.

FINAL CAVALIERS-CELTICS PICK & PREDICTION: BOSTON CELTICS -11 (-112)