Get the brooms ready. The Cleveland Cavaliers are one win away from moving on to the Eastern Conference semifinals after winning Game 3 in Boston. LeBron James continued his very strong series to lead the Cavs, while Kevin Love burned Boston from deep.
But the overmatched Celtics have stood up to the clearly superior Cavaliers in this series, and will be gunning to claim at least a consolation win in front of their home crowd. Can the Cavs complete the sweep? Read on for our Game 4 preview below.
Speaking of sweeps, the Bulls and Warriors will also be looking to end their first-round series in four games this weekend. Check out our previews of the Bulls vs. Bucks and the Warriors vs. Pelicans.
[sc:NBAArticles ]
Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics Game 4 Preview
Series Scores & Schedule
Game 1 — April 19, 3:00 PM ET, Boston Celtics 100 at Cleveland Cavaliers 113
Game 2 — April 21, 7:00 PM ET, Boston Celtics 91 at Cleveland Cavaliers 99
Game 3 — April 23, 7:00 PM ET, Cleveland Cavaliers 103 at Boston Celtics 95
Game 4 — April 26, 1:00 PM ET, Cleveland Cavaliers at Boston Celtics – view all NBA lines
Game 5* — April 28, Time TBD, Boston Celtics at Cleveland Cavaliers
Game 6* — April 30, Time TBD, Cleveland Cavaliers at Boston Celtics
Game 7* — May 2, Time TBD, Boston Celtics at Cleveland Cavaliers
* If necessary
Betting on the Cleveland Cavaliers
Don’t look now but Kevin Love might finally be clicking in this Cavs offense. Love had 23 points and went 6-of-10 from three-point range in the Cavs’ 103-95 Game 3 win in Boston. Love is averaging 18 points in the series against the Celtics, who’ve found it tough to deal with the Cavs’ deadly outside shooting.
[sc:NBA240banner ]Cleveland went 12-of-29 (41 percent) from three, the second time they’ve hit at least 12 threes at a 40-plus percent clip in the first three games. Kyrie Irving, who had averaged 28 points in the first two games of the series, had just 13 in Game 3, but still added a couple of threes. He’s gone 10-of-20 from beyond the arc in the series.
LeBron James led all scorers with 31 points, 11 rebounds and four assists in Game 3, and looked for his own shot right from the get go. James leads the team averaging 27 points, nine rebounds and six assists through the first three games.
With a sweep in sight, expect the same mentality from LeBron in Game 4 to close out the series and get some rest ahead of the next round. James has topped 30 points in each of his last two first-round Game 4’s, which sealed sweeps for the Miami Heat. Including his time with the Heat, LeBron has now won 12 straight first-round playoff games.
The Boston Celtics are giving the Cavs all they can handle in this series. Even with top scorer Isaiah Thomas, who went for 22 points in each of the first two games, scoring just five points in Game 3, the Celtics still managed to make it another competitive game.
Evan Turner had a breakout game with 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, Avery Bradley had 18 points while Jae Crowder had 16 off the bench.
Despite Stevens’ superior coaching ability, though, the Celtics haven’t been able to completely bridge the chasm in talent between themselves and the Cavs’ star-studded Big Three.
But the Celtics have nothing to lose, and are clearly not backing down from the more talented Cavs. They got physical on the Cavs in Game 4, and committed a couple of good, hard “playoff fouls”. Meanwhile, Turner was jawing with LeBron after James came up with a big block.
James and Irving have logged some heavy minutes in the first three games – James is averaging 42 minutes on the series while Irving is at 40 – which could favor the young legs of this deep Celtics team to make Game 4 another tight contest.
After barely covering the 8.5-point-spread in Game 3, the Celtics improved to 3-0 against the spread at home against the Cavs this season. Boston is 5-2 against the spread overall against Cleveland on the season.
Writer’s Prediction
The Celtics throw everything they have, and do enough to cover at home. But the Cavs seal the deal – and the series – with a 101-96 win.
