On Wednesday evening the TD Garden will be rocking as the Eastern Conference Finals begin. This year it will feature one familiar team, the Cleveland Cavaliers as the favorites again, despite the Boston Celtics holding Home Court Advantage. The Celtics will get the first two meetings at home where they'll try to gain a 2-0 lead in the series if at all possible. Meanwhile, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving will try to sweep a third-straight team in the playoffs. Will Boston follow in the footsteps of the Cavs' previous opponents? Here is the latest Cavs vs.
Celtics preview including matchup odds, TV time, channel and how to watch it live streaming.
Game 1 preview
The Boston Celtics were able to overtake the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference standings to become No. 1 overall seed, by several games. However, it seems home court advantage throughout the playoffs is of little concern to the reigning NBA champions.
In the regular season, Boston was 30-11 on their home court, while the Cavs were 20-21 away from theirs. However, in their four meetings this past season, Boston is just 1-3 versus the reigning champs. That four-point win came back on March 1st in Boston with Isaiah Thomas scoring 31 points for his team and LeBron James finishing with a triple-double.
Fast forward to the postseason and these two squads now meet in a best-of-seven series to determine who competes in the NBA Finals. Cleveland has been a perfect 8-0 in the playoffs, sweeping the Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors. Boston needed a full seven games to defeat the Washington Wizards, and will probably need the same, plus some of that "luck o' the Irish" in order to win this series.
Despite being the visiting team tonight, the Cleveland Cavaliers have four points in their favor to win and are -185 on the moneyline. The home team Celtics were +165 underdogs, as of this report, while the over/under points total is at 220 points for the complete game.
How to watch it live
The Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 featuring the Cavaliers vs.
Celtics will begin at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday night. Live coverage of this game is being shown exclusively on the TNT network. Cable and satellite subscribers who have TNT as part of their channel lineup may also be able to log in to the TNTDrama website or mobile apps to see a live streaming feed. SlingTV subscribers who have TNT as part of their lineup can also watch this game on various devices.
Customers who want to try out SlingTV can head over to Sling.com for a free one-week trial. The middle tier channel package on the site features TNT (among other channels) for viewers to enjoy content over the coming week.