Boston Celtics vs Cleveland Cavaliers Prediction, 3/5/2024 Preview and Pick

Game: Boston Celtics vs Cleveland Cavaliers

Date: Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Location: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, OH

TV: Bally Sports Ohio

The Boston Celtics (48-12) are traveling to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Tuesday where they will try to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers (39-21).

The Celtics took the court against the Warriors and earned the victory with a final of 140-88 in their last contest. In regard to personal fouls, the Celtics walked away with 19 and the Warriors totaled 13 personal fouls. They made 7 out of their 41 shots from beyond the arc. Golden State finished the game shooting 69.2% from the charity stripe by making 9 of 13 tries. In addition, Golden State snagged 46 boards (12 offensive, 34 defensive) and had 5 blocks. Golden State totaled 24 dimes and had 2 steals in the matchup. When it comes to defense, Boston allowed 39.1% from the field on 36 of 92 shooting. They also doled out 35 assists for this contest as well as forcing 17 turnovers and earning 10 steals. In relation to rebounding, they compiled 51 with 7 of them being on the offensive end. From the charity stripe, the Celtics knocked down 9 of their 11 tries for a rate of 81.8%. Boston finished with a 55.2% FG percentage (53 of 96) and buried 25 of their 49 shots from 3-point land.

Jaylen Brown is a player who was a contributor for the game. He notched 29 points on 11 out of 19 shooting. He played for 22 minutes played and grabbed 3 rebounds. Brown ended up going 57.9% from the field and totaled 3 dimes.

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Boston comes into this matchup with a mark of 48-12 for the year. They have an average of 121.3 pts per contest (3rd in basketball) while shooting 48.7% from the field. The Celtics are hitting 38.6% on shots from distance (982 of 2,543) and 81.2% from the charity stripe. As a team, Boston is pulling down 47.1 rebounds per game and has accumulated 1,585 assists for the year, which has them ranked 17th in the league in terms of passing. They are turning it over 12.4 times per contest and as a squad they commit 17.0 fouls on a nightly basis.

On defense, the Celtics are able to force 11.8 turnovers per game while drawing 18.1 personal fouls. They give up 34.6% on 3-point attempts and they are 4th in the NBA in opponents PPG (109.9). The Celtics are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 44.7% (2,479 of 5,545) and they surrender 43.6 rebounds per game as a basketball team. They are 5th in the league in giving up assists to their opponents with 1,489 surrendered for the year.

The last time they took the hardwood, the Cavaliers took a loss by a score of 107-98 against the Knicks. When talking about how they attacked the glass, Cleveland permitted New York to collect 47 overall (10 on the offensive side). They shot 41.0% from distance by connecting on 16 of 39 and walked away from this one shooting 7 out of 10 at the charity stripe (70.0%). The Cavaliers permitted the Knicks to make 42 of 86 attempts from the field which left them with a rate of 48.8% in the matchup. At the conclusion of this game, the Cavaliers walked away from this one shooting 39 out of 87 from the field which had them shooting 44.8%. In relation to shooting from beyond the arc, Cleveland knocked down 17 of 44 attempts (38.6%). They were able to bury 3 of those for a rate of 37.5%. The Knicks had 13 fouls for the contest which took the Cavaliers to the charity stripe for 8 attempts. They also turned the ball over 10 times, while recording 7 steals for the contest. The Cavaliers were able to corral 29 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive rebounds totaling 39 in the matchup.

Sam Merrill ended up being a major contributor for the Cavaliers for this game. He knocked down 7 out of 13 for this game for a field goal percentage of 53.8%, and accounted for 3 rebounds. Merrill tallied 21 points in his 29 minutes of playing time and earned 2 assists in this game.

Cleveland has a record of 39-21 for the campaign. The Cavaliers are committing 18.4 fouls per contest and they shoot 76.6% from the free throw line. They are getting an assist 27.7 times per contest (10th in the league) and they are turning it over 13.5 times per game. Cleveland has 6,861 points for the season (114.4 per contest) and they grab 44.7 boards per game. As an offense, the Cavaliers are shooting 48.1% from the floor, which ranks 12th in basketball.

The Cavaliers are ranked 2nd in the league in points per game surrendered with 109.5. They are able to force 13.6 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 45.4% from the field (4th in the league). The Cleveland defense concedes 36.0% on 3-point attempts (730 of 2,025) and their opponents are converting on 78.4% of their shots from the charity stripe. They relinquish 24.4 assists and 42.6 boards per contest, which ranks them 3rd and 10th in basketball.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Cleveland

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