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We have an action-packed night of basketball in the NBA this Friday night, with the two teams that sit atop the Eastern Conference battling it out. The Cleveland Cavaliers, led by Donovan Mitchell, are taking on the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics, led by Jayson Tatum.
With such a good matchup on tap, let’s break down each team’s success so far and our Cavaliers @ Celtics pick.
The Cavs have been extremely strong all season long, sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference. They have a 48-10 record and are 6.5 games ahead of the Boston Celtics. They have built this lead by winning eight straight games against some impressive teams.
Donovan Mitchell leads Cleveland in scoring with 24 points per game. However, he is not the only one who can hurt you, because this team is very deep. They have Darius Garland, who is averaging 21 points per game, and then you have Evan Mobley, who is averaging over 18 points per game. Not only is Mobley dangerous on the offensive end, but his defense pairs well with Jarrett Allen.
Additionally, the Cavs made the trade deadline acquisition of De’Andre Hunter from the Atlanta Hawks. They brought him in to guard the other team’s best wing player and knock down open three-pointers, which he has done at the highest rate of his career this season. The depth is the best part about this Cavaliers team, which makes them very dangerous down the stretch of the season and into the playoffs.
Now, looking at the Celtics, their season has gone well with a record of 42-17, even though they have dealt with a multitude of nagging injuries. Jayson Tatum leads the team in scoring, rebounding and assists. But similar to the Cavaliers, this Celtics team is deep. Along with Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick White all average over 16 points per game.
They also have Payton Pritchard coming off the bench, who is making his case for the Sixth Man of the Year award. Pritchard is averaging 14 points per game and has done a good job filling in for Jrue Holiday, who has missed 12 games this season.
Holiday has a few nagging injuries here and there, but it does not seem to be anything serious. He does, however, have a lot of miles on those tires, which is a big reason why the C’s want to keep him fresh for what looks to be another deep playoff run.
Looking ahead to this game between the Cavaliers and Celtics, we have seen this matchup three times already this season, with the Celtics leading the season series 2-1. The first game was won by the Celtics at home on the back of Tatum scoring 33 points. For the Cavs, Mitchell finished with a game-high 35, but it was not enough.
The next game was in Cleveland, where the Cavs took care of business and again Mitchell had 35 points. In the most recent game, the Celtics won 112-105, with Tatum, Brown, Porzingis and White all scoring at least 16 points in the win. Mitchell once again scored 31 points.
There’s just something about this matchup against the Celtics that Mitchell gets up for. With him scoring at least 30 points in each of the three matchups this season, we think that makes our Cavaliers vs Celtics NBA pick an easy one. We are going to take Donovan Mitchell to score 28+ points in this matchup tonight.
Dylan has had a love for sports since he was a kid. Four years ago, he decided to dive into the sports content-creating industry specializing in Fantasy Football, NFL and NBA. He has since had his work published on sites that include Fantasy Alarm, Fansided, and Fantasy Six Pack.