The Cleveland Cavaliers are having a lot more trouble than expected getting past the Boston Celtics in their Eastern Conference playoff series. NBA Playoffs betting fans have seen LeBron James playing well but the best player in the series has been Boston guard Rajon Rondo. He dominated Game 4 as the Celtics won 97-87 to even the best-of-seven series at two games each. Rondo had a triple-double as he scored 29 points, pulled down 18 rebounds and handed out 13 assists. If the Cavaliers are to win this series as expected, they are going to need LeBron to step up his game and they need to find a way to slow down Rondo.

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Cleveland Cavaliers are a 7.5 point favorite with a total over/under of 193.5.

LeBron has said that he wants to guard Rondo in Game 5 but that strategy may not work. Paul Pierce has been shutdown by James and it is also very questionable whether James could keep up with Rondo but James wants to give it a try. “It’s something that we should explore,’’ said James, “Because Rondo is definitely dominating the series at the point guard position.” The problem for Cleveland is that if James guards Rondo there is no one to guard Pierce. And Pierce does whatever it takes for the team to win. “I’m at the point in my career where it don’t matter who gets the credit on this team,’’ Pierce said. “It’s about winning games. At the end of the game, when my legacy is put up in the air, it’s going to be like, ‘What did he do for his team?’ A lot of individual things I have done, but it’s about winning games, winning championships. If it’s going to be me getting 9 points, a couple of rebounds, a key charge or key rebound, that’s fine with me.’’

NBA betting stats show that Boston has been a solid team in the playoffs when they are getting points. The Celtics are 11-4-1 ATS in their last 16 playoff games as an underdog.

The Celtics are 2-7 ATS in the last 9 meetings in Cleveland. Cleveland has had their troubles at home recently covering the spread in the basketball odds. The Cavaliers are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games as a home favorite.

Looking at the total, the Under is 6-2 in the Celtics last 8 Conference Semifinals games and the Under is 19-7 in the Cavaliers last 26 Conference Semifinals games.

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Thursday, 8:05 pm Eastern – TNT
Los Angeles Lakers at Cleveland Cavaliers

The two top NBA teams meet in a high profile TNT televised game on Thursday as the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are 32-11 host the Los Angeles Lakers, who are 32-9. This is a key game for both teams since the team that finishes with the best overall record would have home court advantage if the teams meet in the NBA Finals. The Cavaliers already defeated the Lakers earlier this season so a win on Thursday would give them the tiebreaker if the teams finish with the same record.

The Lakers begin a very challenging eight-game road trip on Thursday. They will be playing eight games in 13 days beginning with this matchup in Cleveland. There are three sets of back-to-backs and two big games, against Cleveland and Boston. The Lakers have played the fewest amount of road games in the league but that is about to change. “I think it’ll tell us where we’re at,” said Lakers forward Ron Artest, “We feel like we can come out perfect. I don’t think anybody will doubt us even though we haven’t been out on the road yet.”

The game on Thursday is very important to the Lakers since they were routed 102-87 at home by the Cavaliers on Christmas Day. “Obviously, we didn’t like that at all,” forward Pau Gasol said. “We want to show them that we’re the better team. They have confidence now that they can beat us.”

The Lakers have the best NBA record in the league but they still haven’t played their best basketball. “We play well for a half, the next night we play well for 20 minutes.” Head coach Phil Jackson said, “We haven’t really strung together 3 1/2 quarters or whatever.”

The Lakers are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 Thursday games. The Lakers are 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Lakers are 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 vs. the Eastern Conference. The Lakers are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 road games. The Lakers are 2-5 ATS in the last 7 meetings against Cleveland.

The Cavaliers are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 home games. The Cavaliers are 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 vs. the Western Conference.

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