Tip-off: Wednesday, 8:00 p.m. ET
Line: NA, Total: NA

Home court advantage in the Eastern Conference Playoffs will likely go to tonight’s winner.

It’s a battle for first place in the Eastern Conference in Boston on Wednesday night, as the 50-27 Cleveland Cavaliers (34-40-3 ATS) take on the 50-27 Boston Celtics (38-37-2 ATS). Much has been made of the Cavaliers struggles late in the season, as they underwent two three-game losing streaks in the month of March alone and finished with a 7-10 record for the month. After the most recent losing streak, though, they have won three straight games, including a 122-102 victory over the Magic on Tuesday night (CLE -11). The Celtics, meanwhile, have won eight of their last 10 and were 11-5 in March. Most recently, they won 110-94 over New York (BOS -7.5) in a Sunday afternoon contest that didn’t feature too many recognizable Knicks. Boston is 28-10 at home this season, while Cleveland is only 19-19 on the road for the year. Since 1996, games involving a team coming off of a home blowout win of at least 20 points (CLE) and a team coming off a road win of at least 10 points (BOS) are 111-65 Under against the total. Boston SG Avery Bradley has missed two straight games with an illness, but is considered probable for Wednesday night’s game. SF Jae Crowder left the game against the Knicks with an elbow injury but is also probable against the Cavs.

Considering all the recent hysteria about Cleveland’s poor play, they got some incredibly encouraging signs in their Wednesday night game against the Magic. SF LeBron James (26.2 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 8.8 APG, 1.2 SPG) had his second straight triple-double with 18 points, 11 assists and 11 boards. He was even better on Sunday in an overtime win against the Pacers, scoring 41 points to go with 14 rebounds and 11 assists. Of course, LeBron is steady—you know the Cavs are really rolling when mercurial SG J.R. Smith (8.9 PPG, 1.0 SPG) is on. He had 19 points on five three-pointers against Orlando, and he is averaging 15.8 PPG and 4.3 RPG in his last four games. He has only played in 36 games this year due to injury, and he appears to be rounding into form right when it matters. PF Kevin Love (19.2 PPG, 10.9 RPG) was also money on Monday, scoring 28 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. He is now 17-of-30 from the floor in his last two games after scoring in single-digits in two straight games at the end of March. PG Kyrie Irving (25.1 PPG, 5.8 APG, 1.2 SPG) had 24 points on 15 shots and eight assists against the Magic; he only played 30 minutes after logging 46 in the Pacers game. SF Kyle Korver (10.9 PPG in 30 games in CLE) had missed 11 straight games heading into Monday, but he returned with 11 points on three three-pointers in only 12 minutes. It’s the exact type of efficiency Cleveland was hoping for when they acquired him from Atlanta earlier in the season.

Pint-sized Boston PG Isaiah Thomas (29.1 PPG, 5.9 APG) had 19 points against the Knicks on Sunday, only his fourth sub-20-point game all season. Of course, it was because he only played 24 minutes in a blowout, so it wasn’t reflective of any drop in scoring. He’s been as hot as ever lately, having scored 30-plus points in four straight games leading into that one. He’s the heart of the offense, while Bradley (16.6 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 1.3 SPG) and Crowder (13.7 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 1.0 SPG) are certainly the two most valuable defensive players for Boston in matchups against Cleveland. Crowder typically guards James when both are on the floor, while Bradley gets put on Irving. He showed off incredible footwork in shutting down Irving in a crunch-time moment late in Boston’s 103-99 win over the Cavs on Mar. 1. Rookie SF Jaylen Brown (6.6 PPG) starts in the place of either when they’re out, and he’ll get plenty of minutes even in the (likely) event that they both play. He’s not capable of really matching up with LeBron yet, but the Celtics hope he can develop into that type of defender. He scored 16 points against the Knicks. C Al Horford (14.1 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 5.0 APG, 1.3 BPG) had 14, including a couple of feisty dunks. Boston fans certainly appreciate seeing that type of fire from the normally mild-mannered Horford. PF Amir Johnson (6.5 PPG, 4.6 RPG) starts alongside him in the frontcourt.