Posted on 5/8/2008 5:01:03 PM

NBA Betting – Defense First As Celtics Look to Beat Cavs

By Eric Williams

Talk about weird!

Tuesday night’s second round Game 1 online betting matchup between the league-leading Boston Celtics, (71-19 SU, 56-32-2 ATS, 40-49-1 O/U) and defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers, (49-40 SU, 42-47 ATS, 40-47-2 O/U) was, to put it mildly, unusual, with three of the best scorers in league history, LeBron James, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, all shooting the ball like grade-schoolers who were just introduced to the sport in Boston’s 76-72 win.

Tonight’s Game 2 matchup, promises to be much for different according every player and coach involved in this series.

James, who shot a dismal 2-for-18 from the field, says he doesn’t believe he will have another poor shooting night like this one for quite some time - if ever.

"I can't play no worse than I did last night," James said Wednesday.

James also honestly added that he doesn’t expect either of the Celtics’ two stars to shoot the ball as poorly either as Pierce and Allen shot a combined 2-for-18, with Allen failing to score for the first time since his rookie season.

"You don't expect those guys to have off nights like that. I don't expect myself to have an off night like I did."

While no one expects another horrific shooting night like Tuesday’s, everyone involved also agrees that the level of defensive play in this series is going to make for some low-scoring affairs.

"You're going to have to run through a brick wall to get to 100 points it seems like, the way these two teams play defense," Pierce said. "You just expect it to be a defensive struggle throughout."

Despite two of their top three star players struggling throughout the game, the Celtics got a solid performance from Kevin Garnett who finished with 28 points and the go-ahead basket with just 28 seconds remaining.

"Offensively, we were a terrible-looking group," Pierce said. "We turned the ball over 23 times, shot 40 percent from the field. We did just about everything wrong you could do offensively, and what happens, the defense comes and saves the day."

Pierce said the Celtics will have to make some readjustments to match the Cavaliers adjustments for Game 2.

"They're going to try to do things to make it easier on him, maybe get him out in transition a little bit more, get him in position where he's not double-teamed any more," he said "It's up to us to try to counter the things they're going to do."

The Cavaliers have covered the spread in three of their last four playoff games while Boston has gone 2-2 against the spread in their last four postseason contests.

Here is a look at tonight’s key trends followed by my NBA Playoffs Gambling  Free Picks.

The Cavaliers are 4-1 ATS in their last five playoff games as an underdog.

The Cavaliers are 4-1 ATS in their last five games following a S.U. loss.

The Celtics are 5-1 ATS in their last six Thursday games.

The Celtics are 13-3 ATS in their last 16 home games.

The Under is 11-1 in Cavaliers last 12 Conference Semifinals games.

The Over is 5-1 in Celtics last six games as a favorite of 5.0-10.5.

The Cavaliers are 5-1-2 ATS in the last eight meetings in Boston.

The Cavaliers are 4-1 ATS in the last five meetings.

Analysis: Just like my Game 1 winning selection, I am just going to reiterate how the Cavaliers play a style of basketball that produces a multitude of close scores no matter where they play. Once again, I say take the Cavaliers to cover this high spread.

NBA Free Picks: Cavaliers +8½ Points/Over 177½ Total Points

07:05 PM EST NBA Playoffs Odds

Cleveland Cavaliers +8½ -110

Boston Celtics -8½ -110

Over 177½ -110

Under 177½ -110

You’ll find the latest 2007-2008 NBA odds and lines in the best online sportsbook, BetUS.com. Betting on NBA player and game props makes every aspect of the game exciting. Join BetUS.com today to bet on the NBA and make online sports betting work for you!