Previewing Friday’s Cleveland Cavaliers at Boston Celtics sports betting odds and lines, with NBA betting picks, tips and best bets.
The Boston Celtics (21-7) host the Cleveland Cavaliers (9-21) Friday at TD Garden for a 4 p.m. ET tip-off. We analyze the Cavaliers-Celtics odds and lines, with NBA betting advice and tips around the matchup.
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Cavaliers at Celtics: Key injuries
Cavaliers
PF Larry Nance Jr. (knee) questionable
SF Dylan Windler (leg) out
Celtics
C Vincent Poirier (finger) out
PG Marcus Smart (eye) questionable
C Robert Williams (hip) out
Cavaliers at Celtics: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips
NBA odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full set of today’s betting odds. Odds last updated Friday at 1:30 p.m. ET.
The Celtics (-1112) have won four straight games, including a 118-102 victory over the rival Toronto Raptors on Christmas Day. They’re 12-1 at home for the season and 8-2 across their last 10 games. The Cavaliers (+700) have strung together their first three-game winning streak of the season, topping the Atlanta Hawks 121-118 Monday. They’re just 3-11 as the road team this season and 4-6 across their last 10 games.
These odds are just too chalky to warrant a play, as a $10 bet on the Celtics to simply win outright — which they will — will return a profit of less than $1. It’s not worth even the small amount of risk involved. Go for a bigger profit margin on the spread.
The CELTICS (-14.5, +100) are a much better play when needing to win by at least 15 points. The same $10 bet would return a profit of $10, doubling your money.
Boston is 18-8 against the spread for the season and 9-3 at home. Cleveland is 12-17 ATS overall and just 5-9 on the road. The Celts won by at least 15 points in each of their last three games, while four of Cleveland’s last five losses were by margins of at least 15 points. The Celtics have beaten the Cavs by 6 and 22 points in two prior meetings this season.
Take the UNDER 214.5 (+105) as the better value play at plus-money. The two prior games this season played to either side of Friday’s projected total, but it was the more recent meeting which fell well short in a 110-88 win for the Celtics. The Cavs average just 104.5 points per game and will be stymied by a Celtics squad allowing just 103.2 PPG.
Esten’s NBA betting record: 116-79
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The Utah Jazz acquired Jordan Clarkson via trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers on December 23. He made his debut with them on Thursday night.
The Utah Jazz acquired Jordan Clarkson via trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers on December 23. He made his debut with them on Thursday night.
The main reason for the move is that the Jazz have an anemic offense when Donovan Mitchell is not on the court. Their offensive rating in these minutes (100.4) has been far below the league average (109.1) so far this season. Cleveland, meanwhile, had scored well (110.5) with Clarkson in December. He has long shown he is capable of massive scoring eruptions any given night.
Dennis Lindsey, Utah’s executive vice president of basketball operations, spoke about Clarkson before his debut with the Jazz (via Deseret.com):
“There was a little bit of a duh-factor being 28th in bench scoring. We needed to add someone that could just go and get a shot … He was a player that Quin asked me about this summer so it’s not the first conversation we’ve had about him.”
During his first game for the franchise, he showcased his ability to get a quick bucket off the bench. He scored nine points in his first nine minutes with the new squad.
He was held scoreless for the remainder of the game as the Jazz, though. The beginning of the match showed why the team was willing to move on from a former lottery pick in Dante Exum. The latter half showed why both the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers have been so willing to move on from him via trade as too often he can vanish.
While he has shown he can play one-through-three, the 27-yar-old has spent 86 percent of his minutes as the shooting guard this season. That will be his primary position, though his experience as a point guard and small forward will make him valuable as veteran Mike Conley recovers from a hamstring issue over the next few weeks.
He was able to slide into the three alongside Mitchell as well as Emmanuel Mudiay in the backcourt. However, he spent a few possessions as the point with Mitchell and Joe Ingles on the wing.
But more likely than not, his primary role (once Conley returns from his injury) will be as a scoring sparkplug during minutes without Mitchell. This is mostly because he’s a high-usage, ball-dominant player that requires the rock to make his biggest impact. The 6-foot-5 guard has averaged 59.7 touches per 36 minutes during his professional career, indicating it will be hard for him to do much while Mitchell is on the court.
Meanwhile, one of the other advantages of his addition is that it allows Royce O’Neale to play his natural position as their backup small forward. O’Neale has spent 57 percent of his minutes in 2019-20 at shooting guard out of necessity, though it has not been his best position.
According to Cleaning the Glass, for example, the Jazz have been outscored by 1.0 point per 100 possessions when O’Neale has played the two. But they have outscored their opponents by 14.4 points per 100 when he has played at the three.
Jordan Clarkson is shooting 42% on catch-and-shoot 3s this year. Could be a valuable quality if he adjusts well to Snyder's motion offense.
During his debut, the guard was actually held scoreless on catch-and-shoot opportunities. This is another way he can surely make a difference for his new offense once he gets more in rhythm.
Only five teams have taken fewer catch-and-shoot three-pointers per game than Utah (20.8) so far this season. But the Jazz lead the NBA in three-point percentage (42.4 percent) on these attempts.
Clarkson is currently shooting 39-for-93 (41.9 percent) on three-pointers off the catch. Considering how well Utah has been on these attempts, they will have another weapon in the arsenal with Clarkson as a viable option on their team.
HoopsHype ranks the five players who have popped up the most in trade rumors over the past week, including Marcus Morris and Andre Iguodala.
After a painfully long 160 days between trades, the NBA finally saw a bit of movement on that front this past week when the Cleveland Cavaliers agreed to send Jordan Clarkson to the Utah Jazz in exchange for Dante Exum and a couple of second-round draft picks.
Various big-name players have been bandied about over recent days, and though a huge deal may not seem imminent, one could spring up on us at any time, just like how the Clarkson-for-Exum swap occurred almost out of nowhere.
Below, HoopsHype ranks the five players who have popped up the most in rumors on the site’s Trade page over the past week.
David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
5. KEVIN LOVE
Following the Clarkson trade, the expectation is for Cleveland to continue unloading veterans for premium assets, according to reports from Adrian Wojnarowski and the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Chris Fedor. The latter reported the following on Tuesday:
“The [Clarkson] move puts Cleveland about $5.1 million below the luxury tax threshold, which gives the team more financial flexibility when it comes to other deals. Make no mistake, more are coming between now and the trade deadline on Feb. 6. Players are already bracing for those shakeups.”
Love is averaging 16.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game this season while shooting 44.2 percent from the floor and 37.3 percent from beyond the arc. The floor-spacing big man also ranks in the “excellent” range, according to Synergy Sports, in scoring out of the pick-and-roll (as the roller) and coming off screens, so teams know the value Love still possesses as a scorer.
Of course, the main issues when it comes to trading Love are his age (31) and contract (he’s the 22nd-highest paid player this year and signed through 2022-23), but if Clarkson was able to net two second-rounders and a decent prospect like Exum, there’s a good chance Cleveland will be able to get a first-rounder, even a protected one, for their star power forward, especially if they’re willing to take back bad salary in return.
Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
4. MARCUS MORRIS
Despite the New York Knicks’ struggles this season, Marcus Morris has been a revelation, averaging a career-high 18.4 points per game to go along with 5.6 rebounds and 2.7 triples (on 46.6 percent shooting from the outside) nightly.
“‘Teams love his leadership and he’s been shooting incredibly well,’ a representative for one Eastern Conference team said. ‘You can easily see them getting a late first-round pick for him if that team feels Marcus pushes them over the top.'”
It might not be for another few weeks, but expect to see Morris traded by early February; one of the two L.A. teams, for example, would make a whole lot of sense for him.
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
3. DION WAITERS
Everyone is pretty well-versed in Dion Waiters’ impossibly bad season so far, but for those who aren’t, the gist of it is: He’s been suspended three separate times and has yet to play a minute for the Miami Heat.
As such, logically, Miami would prefer to move on from their troublesome 2-guard, but there aren’t many ways they could do so. On its own, Waiters’ contract lends itself nicely to be used as a trade chip, since it only has a year-and-a-half left on it and merely pays him $12.3 million annually in that span, but why would any team want to add Waiters to their locker room, especially with the way he’s behaved this season?
Now that Elfrid Payton is healthy for the Knicks, third-year guard Frank Ntilikina’s playing time has gone way down, from over 26 minutes nightly over a 23-game stretch to under 14 minutes nightly over his last four. With that dip in playing time, the French ball-handler’s averages have gone way down (and they were never that impressive to begin with), as Ntilikina is scoring 3.8 points and securing 2.0 rebounds in that stretch.
There have been trade rumors surrounding Ntilikina for a long time now, and that hasn’t changed recently, not with how poorly he’s played in New York and the upside other teams still think he might have. If nothing else, Ntilikina is still just 21 and has proven to have huge promise on the defensive end of the floor, where he routinely makes special plays while covering opponents one-on-one.
According to SportsNet New York, teams around the Association still value Ntilikina for the aforementioned reasons, with one exec speculating that this might be a Markelle Fultz situation, where both sides might benefit from a clean break.
The question is whether Ntilikina still has enough value to net a first-rounder in return, or if he’s fallen so far that other teams only see him worthy of a second-round pick instead.
Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
1. ANDRE IGUODALA
Memphis Grizzlies swingman Andre Iguodala, who has yet to play a minute for his new team, has long been at the center of trade rumors, pretty much since the time the Golden State Warriors decided to trade him to a rebuilding team.
Contenders around the league are watching this situation closely, as some believe the 2015 Finals MVP could be bought out by Memphis, which would lead to an intense recruitment for his services. However, according to The Athletic, Grizzlier higher-ups are still confident they’ll be able to find a trade for Iguodala, one that will net them either a first-rounder or a promising young player.
That seems reasonable, as Iguodala has proven time and time again that he can contribute at a high level once the playoffs roll around, particularly on the defensive end, where he would wreak havoc for Golden State over the last few years.
As far as the teams rumored to be interested in Iguodala, reports state that the two L.A. teams are at the forefront of this chase, while the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets have also looked into the possibility of adding the 35-year-old.
You can follow Frank Urbina on Twitter: @FrankUrbina_.
Jordan Clarkson is going to Utah and Dante Exum is going to Cleveland but, more importantly, let the NBA trade season begin!
REJOICE, WE HAVE A TRADE! After a dry spell that lasted 160 days, the great NBA trade drought of 2019 is finally over. It wasn’t a major deal that ended the drought, but this could signal more deals are on the way, particularly as we enter January. On Monday,the Cavaliers agreed to send Jordan Clarkson to Utah in exchange for 2014 draft bust Dante Exum and two future second-round picks.
Clarkson will surely provide a boost to the Jazz’s bench scoring, as the explosive guard is averaging 14.6 points this season while shooting over 37 percent from beyond the arc. For a Utah team that ranks21st league-wide in offensive efficiency, Clarkson could wind up being a big addition. What’s more, considering the 27-year-old ison the final year of his contract, this deal looks like it could be a savvy rental for the Jazz.
On the other side of things, Exum heads to a Cleveland team in the early stages of a complete rebuild. The Australian ball-handler is the exact type of player the Cavs should be targeting: He’s young, has upside and desperately needs a change of scenery. Perhaps going to Cleveland will help Exum start to resemble the player who was drafted fifth overall five years ago. His deal is relatively team-friendly, too,with the Cavaliers only owing Exum two years and $19.2 million.
JAZZ WAIVE VETERAN:Utah is reportedly waiving veteran forward Jeff Green, which was surprising, considering the news came out less than an hour after the Jazz lost to the Heat on Monday night. Green was averaging 7.8 points and 2.8 rebounds this season.
PARSONS OPENS UP:We had a nice conversation with Chandler Parsons, who opened up about the injuries he’s suffered and the idea that he’s the most overpaid player in the league. Parsons told us: “I think anybody with a brain in my situation would have taken the contract. Should I have predicted that I was going to be hurt and took less or took half the money? That’s psychotic. Now the contract is what it was and, obviously, I didn’t live up to it.”
UNCLE DENNIS: The Athletic dropped a bombshell report on Kawhi Leonard’s free agency,where Sam Amick said league sources told him Uncle Dennis, Kawhi’s infamous uncle/agent, was asking teams for part ownership of whichever team Leonard signed with, a private plane that could be used at any point, a house and a guaranteed amount of off-court endorsement money. The league reportedly launched an investigation into the accusations,but they found no evidence of wrongdoing by the Clippers.
COLLINS RETURNS: John Collins returned last night after a 25-game suspension related to taking a banned substance.He talked about leaning on his teammates and what being gone for so long was like. Collins went off for 27 points and 10 rebounds in his return game, but the Hawks fell to the Cavs 121-118 in what was their eighth loss in a row.
FIZDALE FINDS LANDING SPOT: David Fizdale has found his next job, but it won’t be as a coach. The former Grizzlies and Knicks head man is returning to ESPN as an NBA analyst,according to SNY.
We break down the deal between the Utah Jazz and the Cleveland Cavaliers which involved Dante Exum and Jordan Clarkson.
On Monday night the Jazz and Cavaliers reportedly agreed to a trade that will see former No. 5 overall pick Dante Exum traded to Cleveland, along with two second-round draft picks, for Jordan Clarkson. The news was reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The second-round picks heading to Cleveland from the Jazz are in 2022 (via San Antonio) and 2023 (via Golden State).
Clarkson, a five-year veteran of the league, spent the majority of his career with the Lakers before joining the Cavaliers in 2018. This season he is averaging 16.8 points per game, and will provide the Jazz with some much needed bench scoring for a team that has struggled offensively for much of the season.
So, that’s the deal. How do we grade it?
Cavaliers: A-
This is pretty clearly an asset grab, and the chance to take a flyer on a player in Dante Exum who has a good pedigree — he was the fifth overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft.
Exum has never really put it together for the Jazz. There was a torn ACL, and recurring injuries, and rumblings that head coach Quin Snyder didn’t like Exum. SLC Dunk has a really nice breakdown of everything that went wrong with the relationship.
But now Exum gets a fresh start. He’s just 24 years old, and has shown ability in flashes. In Cleveland, he should get his chances.
Will it work? Who knows.
But it’s not like the Cavaliers were going anywhere with Jordan Clarkson, and they basically got gifted two draft picks (second rounders, but still) to see if they can revive Exum’s career. If they don’t, he’s only got one year left on his current contract. That’s a fantastic gamble, if you ask me.
Jazz: B-
Jordan Clarkson is a nice player, and will provide the Jazz’s laboring offense (currently 21st in the league) with a bit of pop. Mike Conley has struggled to find his game since arriving in Utah, and if the team is done with Exum, they might as well give up a couple draft picks and bring someone in they think can score the basketball.
Still, for a win-now trade, this feels pretty … tepid. The Jazz are currently in sixth in the Western Conference, and this trade should help them get going. But are they winning a title with Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell, Bojan Bogdanovic, Conley in his current iteration, and Clarkson? I mean, maybe they win a playoff series?
If they felt they needed to get Exum off the team, fine. But to give up two draft picks, even second rounders, to bring in Clarkson — who, again, I like! — feels a bit shortsighted. Assets are assets, and I’m not sure this is a trade that moves the needle.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the Utah Jazz have acquired Klutch Sports guard Jordan Clarkson from the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Trade season is finally underway in the NBA, only a few days before Christmas and it involves a member of the Klutch Sports family.
The Utah Jazz made a move to add some scoring to their bench by trading for Cleveland’s Jordan Clarkson, who recently signed with Klutch Sports, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. In exchange for Clarkson, the Cavs got two second-round picks from the Jazz and former lottery pick Dante Exum.
Clarkson, a free-agent at the end of this season, is having one of his better years in terms of shotting efficiency. His current 53.2% effective field goal would be his best single-season mark by a wide margin. The same goes for his 58.1% true shooting percentage.
The Bengals need a hero. And he could come in the form of LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, a native Ohioan.
Cleveland was championship-starved. In need of a hero, not any savior, a local hero. In 2003, through some bad basketball and the NBA Draft Lottery, the Cavaliers got theirs, LeBron James. And through a circuitous route, everything eventually worked out with the city’s first championship in decades.
Fast forward to 2020. Cincinnati finds itself in a similar sports drought. The Reds have not been to the postseason since winning the World Series in 1990. The Bengals’ posteason visits have been one-and-done since Jan. 6, 1991, when they downed the Houston Oilers, 41-14, in a wild-card game. Eight losses have followed.
The Queen City is in need of its local hero, as Cleveland got in LeBron, to wear a crown. And with one more loss in the 2019 season, it can clinch its shot at that guy: LSU quarterback Joe Burrow.
The Heisman winner, like the hoops King, also will have taken a circuitous route to the Buckeye state. Burrow played high school ball in Ashland, OH, started his college career at Ohio State before transferring to LSU and leading the Tigers to an undefeated season and No. 1 ranking.
He’s also got a great heart. Like LeBron, who has gifted much generosity to Akron and Cleveland, Burrow has proven philanthropic to his home region. He gained national attention and respect for referencing his hometown and inspiring people to donate nearly $500,000 to the Ashland Food Bank.
LeBron’s journey and relationship with Cleveland became complex when he “took his talents” to South Beach in 2010 to play for the Miami Heat. He was vilified for turning his back on the Cavaliers and his home state.
Four years later, he returned to Cleveland, a redemption tour of sorts, and led the Cavaliers and city to its first championship in decades with a miraculous comeback against the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals.
Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
So, should the Cincinnati Bengals lose one of their final two games, against the Dolphins Sunday or Cleveland Browns in Week 17, they would wind up with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. And that would put Cincinnati in position to draft Burrow, whose hometown is about three hours from the Queen City.
Can sports history repeat itself in some form? Will lightning strike twice for sports teams in the Buckeye state? All it takes is another loss in a sad season for the Bengals to have a shot at the best player in college football.
Would Burrow be able to deliver Cincinnati its first Super Bowl championship? That’s getting way ahead of the story, which is going to take far more than LeBron James had to bring to the Cavaliers’ pursuit of a championship. If nothing else, it provide hope for a team that has proven hopeless to its fans.
Rajon Rondo is a member of Kevin Garnett’s Boston Celtics teams but he’s definitely a Los Angeles Lakers now and a fan of LeBron James.
Rajon Rondo is caught between a rhetorical battle being waged by his former Boston Celtics teammate Kevin Garnett against LeBron James from their battles together from earlier in the decade.
Garnett didn’t want to entertain discussions during a recent episode of the Bill Simmons podcast about LeBron’s heroic Game 6 win at Boston in 2012 and instead focused on how the Celtics “broke” LeBron when he was with the Cavaliers in 2010. Garnett’s comments have been making the rounds and bringing back all of those old battles to light.
Rondo was the starting point guard for the Celtics teams that won the 2008 Championship and went to the 2010 NBA Finals, but he’s a Laker now. In addition to that, he and LeBron have talked about sharing a high-level basketball IQ. So when he was asked about LeBron, Rondo said that he “loves” being his teammate.
I thought it was important to clarify whether Rondo does, in fact, like LeBron. He said, "I love LeBron. He’s one of my favorite teammates i’ve ever played for. He’s a very unselfish person."
Now that Garnett is out of the league, he has more time to dwell on the opportunities that the Celtics missed on. Garnett is one of the few people that know what it feels like to beat LeBron James in a playoff series in the 2010s, so it’s understandable that he wouldn’t be peachy about it all these years later. Rondo knows that too but as his career has evolved, he may help LeBron cement his legacy even more.
Kevin Love says Ja Morant almost ended his career with this dunk.
It’s strange to say that a flubbed dunk attempt is the most exciting play of the NBA season so far, but in the words of Cavaliers star Kevin Love, Grizzlies rookie Ja Morant nearly ended his career on Friday night with what would have been one of the best dunks of the decade.
In the first quarter of Friday’s Grizzlies-Cavaliers game in Cleveland, Morant drove into the lane uncontested after grabbing a loose ball, and upon seeing Kevin Love lining up to take a charge outside the restricted area, decided to jump over Love entirely for a one-handed dunk. Morant couldn’t quite clear Love and was unable to finish the play, but the attempt itself was spectacular.
Love said after the game that he was so happy that Morant missed the dunk, or he may have had to take off his jersey and leave the floor.
“I went down to their bench and I said ‘he legit jumped over me.’ It was just at the very end he clipped me with his leg, but I was so glad he missed that dunk. I look back, I helped him up and just kind of… that was like my tip of the hat to him. The kid is really, really special and you’ve got to give credit where credit is due.”
Love also gave Morant a shoutout on Twitter.
Ja almost ended my professional career with this dunk…that kid is something special 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 https://t.co/5SxCItAMba
Ja Morant was *this close* to the dunk of the decade.
In a season devoid of Zion Williamson so far, Ja Morant has picked up the slack as the NBA’s most exciting rookie – and the rising Memphis star came close to what would have been a legendary highlight against the Cavaliers on Friday night.
Just a few minutes into the fourth quarter in Cleveland, Morant grabbed a loose ball just behind the three-point line, took a few strides down an open lane and launched into the air, attempting to throw down a towering tomahawk slam over 6-foot-8 Cavaliers forward Kevin Love, who was established outside of the restricted area to take a charge.
Morant came close to vaulting Love entirely, but get his right leg over Love’s head and failed to finish the dunk.
The officials didn’t call a charge on Morant and let play continue. Even though Morant didn’t complete the hurdle, the attempt was stunning from every angle.
