The NBA season tips-off on October 17th and hoops fans will get two marquee match-ups right out of the gate with the Boston Celtics taking on the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Houston Rockets going up against the Golden State Warriors.
As EA Sports likes to do in these high-profile games, they’ve run a simulation with their related sports title in NBA Live 18 to try and predict the outcome of the two games. First up, Cleveland versus Boston, in a game that saw a huge off-season transaction between the two teams which will see Kyrie Irving returning to Cleveland as a Celtic.
Cavaliers 122, Celtics 104
The NBA Live simulation suggests that Lebron James and the Cavaliers take the Celtics into double overtime to pull out the win.
Predictions:
- Kevin Love: 40 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists – Game High for Points Scored in Sim
- Lebron James: 24 points, 11 rebounds, 12 assists
- Dwayne Wade: 21 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds – Flash is back to his original form!
- Derrick Rose: 9 points, 13 assists, 5 steals & 3 rebounds – D.Rose played the role of a true floor general.
- Gordon Hayward: 11 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists – Hayward has an off night in his Celtic NBA Season Opener.
- Al Horford: 29 points, 16 rebounds, 3 blocks – Horford was a beast in the low post offensively. Still wasn’t enough for the W.
Rockets 120, Warriors 111
This one predicts that James Harden continues his hot streak starting off the season with another triple double and newly procured Point Guard Chris Paul getting a double double in the win.
Predictions:
- James Harden: 34 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 steals
- Chris Paul: 23 points, 14 assists, 5 steals
- Clint Capela & Eric Gordon: combined for a total 39 points. (Gordon w/ 22 points & Capela w/ 17 points)
- Steph Curry: 30 points, 3 assists & 3 steals
- Kevin Durant: 24 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists
- Draymond Green: 11 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists
- Klay Thompson: 9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 assists
You can check out videos of the two games simulated in NBA Live below:
Cavs vs. Celtics
https://youtu.be/-nV5zu6Qjpk
Rockets vs. Warriors
https://youtu.be/YhddiWgNsYI
