Cleveland Cavaliers (62-39 SU, 41-59-1 ATS) vs. Golden State Warriors (71-29 SU, 43-56-1 ATS)
Time: Sunday, June 3rd, 2018 – 8:00 PM ET
Where: Oracle Arena – Oakland, CA
TV: ABC / SPORTSNET
by Keith, Professional NBA Handicapper, Predictem
Odds Cleveland +550, Golden State -833
Point Spread: Golden State -11.5
Total Line: 215
The Cleveland Cavaliers will square off with the Golden State Warriors at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California for Game Two of the NBA Finals. Tip-off is scheduled for 9:00 PM and is set to be televised on ABC with corresponding coverage available on SPORTSNET.
Game One was filled to the brim with excitement as overtime was required to determine a winner. The final score would go in Golden State’s favor where the Warriors would defeat the Cavaliers 114-104. In the extra period, Golden State would outscore Cleveland 17-7. Nevertheless, controversy and disbelief comprised the last minute of play. The circumstances ranged from an overturned foul call that had an influential impact on the outcome of the game to a mental blunder by JR Smith. The highlight of the contest was the play of LeBron James. The King would once again break the 40-point mark for the ninth time in the post-season when he would go off for 51 points. To add to his stat line, LBJ would add eight boards and assists to round off his sensational outing.
On the season, the Warriors are 38-13 SU at home while Cleveland is a mediocre 25-26 SU on the road. Overall, Golden State has won eight of the last nine contests between these two franchises. The fact remains that in the playoffs Golden State has only lost one game at home. The Over has gone 5-2 SU in the last seven games.
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As long as King James remains on the court, anything is possible. If anything can be ascertained from Game One, it is that LeBron James can change the outcome of games at the highest stakes. With that kind of potential, the Cavs can easily respond to Game One with another impressive performance. Moreover, the Cavaliers are truly a dangerous team with no pressure being placed upon them given the quality of their opponent. The fact is this team better outfits on paper (Indiana, Toronto, and Boston) in the playoffs, already.
Coach Steve Kerr called out his players in the Game One post-game press conference when he stated that the Warriors were lucky to win. This kind of rhetoric may fire up Golden State to play at the highest level we are accustomed to seeing them play at. With Cleveland potentially demoralized coupled with home court, the Warriors can quite possibly cover this line with ease in Game Two.
Out of the gate, we have seen the ticket and cash action head straight down Broadway at 50/50 against the spread. In public forums, we have seen the Cavaliers garner as much as 66% of the consensus. As a result of early steam, we have seen the line fall by a point to reflect the initial action on the Cavaliers. In the Over/Under, the line has also fallen by a point to reflect the action on the Under. 63% of the cash action and 56% of the ticket action is on the Under to reinforce this narrative.
The initial line movements would suggest that a zig-zag could be taking shape here. There appears to be a gravitational pull toward Cleveland opening at the same price the Cavaliers closed at in Game One. Nevertheless, Golden State is prone to be overvalued here perhaps even more now as they are a game closer now to capture their third championship in four years. A popular topic of discussion is how Cleveland responds to the Game One, as many have written off LeBron and company already after just one game in the series. With all this being said, we once again get the game’s most dominant player at another delicious price. Grab the points.
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