Cleveland Cavaliers vs Boston Celtics Prediction, 12/14/2023 Preview and Pick

Game: Cleveland Cavaliers vs Boston Celtics

Date: Thursday, December 14, 2023

Location: TD Garden in Boston, MA

TV: NBC Sports Boston

TD Garden is the location where the Boston Celtics (17-5) will try to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers (13-11) on Thursday.

The Cavaliers played the Celtics and took a loss by a final of 120-113 in their last contest. Cleveland finished with a 47.8% FG percentage (44 of 92) and converted 19 of their 45 three-point shots. At the charity stripe, the Cavaliers converted 6 of 9 tries for a percentage of 66.7%. With regard to grabbing boards, they earned a total of 35 with 6 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 27 assists in the matchup as well as forcing the opposition into 13 turnovers and earning 6 steals. When talking about the defense, Cleveland allowed their opponent to shoot 45.2% from the floor on 38 out of 84 shooting. Boston dished out 23 dimes and had 9 steals for the contest. Moreover, Boston grabbed 45 rebounds (12 offensive, 33 defensive) and had 4 rejections. Boston finished the game shooting 100.0% from the charity stripe by converting 26 of 26 attempts. They also made 18 of 44 attempts from beyond the perimeter. When talking about personal fouls, the Cavaliers ended up walking away with 18 and the Celtics totaled 13 personal fouls.

Donovan Mitchell is someone who was a contributor for this contest. He ended up walking away with 29 points on 11 of 22 shooting. He was on the court for 35 mins played and also collected 6 boards. Mitchell finished the contest at 50.0% from the field and also recorded 3 assists.

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Cleveland enters this contest with a win-loss mark of 13-11 for the season. They lose possession by turning the ball over 14.5 times per contest and as a squad they commit 19.2 personal fouls per contest. As a unit, Cleveland is pulling in 44.3 rebounds per contest and is sitting with 601 assists on the season, which is 12th in basketball in terms of passing the rock. The Cavaliers are connecting on 34.6% on 3-point shots (275 of 795) and 77.3% from the free throw line. They have an average of 110.6 points per game (24th in the NBA) while shooting 47.4% from the field.

Defensively, the Cavaliers are forcing their opponents into 14.8 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 19.2 fouls. They currently rank 16th in the league in allowing assists to the opposition with 590 relinquished on the campaign. The Cavaliers defense is allowing and opponent field goal percentage of 45.4% (959 of 2,112) and they concede 43.6 rebounds per game as a group. They are giving up 36.0% on shots from beyond the perimeter while they are 7th in the NBA in opponents PPG (110.7).

The last time they took the hardwood, the Celtics got the victory with a final of 120-113 when they played the Cavaliers. The Celtics pulled down 33 defensive boards and 12 offensive rebounds for a total of 45 for this game. They gave up possession 13 times, while getting 9 steals for the matchup. The Cavaliers were called for 18 fouls in this contest which took the Celtics to the charity stripe for 26 attempts. They were able to make 26 of them for a percentage of 100.0%. In regard to shots from downtown, Boston converted 18 of 44 tries (40.9%). In all, the Celtics finished shooting 38 for 84 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 45.2%. The Celtics permitted the Cavaliers to bury 44 of 92 tries from the floor which left them with a rate of 47.8% in this contest. They finished 42.2% from three-point range by going 19 of 45 and walked away from this one shooting 6 out of 9 at the free throw line (66.7%). When talking about attacking the glass, Boston permitted Cleveland to get 35 in total (6 offensive).

Jaylen Brown ended up being a factor for the Celtics for this contest. He buried 10 of 17 for this contest for a field goal rate of 58.8%, and accounted for 2 rebounds. Brown accumulated 25 points in his 35 minutes of playing time and totaled 4 dimes in the matchup.

Boston has a win-loss record of 17-5 for the year. The Celtics commit 17.6 fouls every game and they go 80.4% from the charity stripe. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 24.8 times per game (26th in basketball) and they are turning it over 13.9 times per contest. Boston has tallied 2,583 pts on the season (117.4 per contest) and they average 46.8 rebounds per game. As an offense, the Celtics are connecting on 47.5% from the floor, which is 12th in basketball.

The Celtics on defense are ranked 4th in the NBA in points given up per game with 109.0. They are able to force 12.3 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 44.5% from the field (4th in the league). The Boston defense gives up 36.7% on three-point shots (303 of 825) and their opponents are connecting on 72.4% of their shots from the free throw line. They have given up 23.9 assists and 42.9 total boards per game, which is ranked 3rd and 10th in the league.

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Cleveland

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