Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (8:00 pm ET, TNT)
The Boston Celtics will try to overtake the Cleveland Cavaliers (8:00 pm ET, TNT) on Tuesday at Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH. The 7 match series is tied at 2-2. The Celtics are 50-32 home, 26-15 away record and Cavaliers are 61-21 away, 35-6 home record.
In Game 4, Rondo came off an historic 29-point, 18-rebound, and 13-assist performance. To try to slow the seemingly unstoppable Celtics point guard, Cavaliers coach Mike Brown has made some plans.
Celtics looks in a destroying mood with the Big Three (Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce) and fabulous dribble penetration and playmaking by Mo Williams and Anthony Parker. Pierce has been hounded by James and has scored only nine points on Sunday. He was also involved in a foul trouble.
Cavs might be thinking of redesigning their defensive strategy as Rondo’s is quite a concern for them. He is averaging 21.8 points, 13 assists and 8.3 rebounds. They can use LeBron James to check Rondo as he did a fantastic job in shutting down Pierce. On Sunday, following their 97-87 loss, the Cavs did little more than some light shooting and conditioning. The Cavs problem is that they too much on Rondo, Pierce, Allen or Garnett.
Mike Brown, Cavs coach was asked if the Cavs are feeling the pressure.
“In the playoffs everybody wants to win,” he said. “You expect to win. If you’re up 3-0 you probably feel less pressure than if you’re down 1-2. Yeah, I think it’s a natural human instinct to feel a little bit of pressure, but it’s good pressure and you got to welcome at this point in the season, especially if you expect to be champions.”
Oddsmakers from various NBA betting websites have made the Cavaliers –7.5 point spread favorites for Tuesday’s game against the Celtics. Current NBA Public Betting Information shows that 54% of more the 4,667 bets for this game have been placed on the Celtics +7.5.
