And the battle is on! The Cleveland Cavaliers will lock horns once again with the Golden State Warriors to decide who will be the 2016 NBA Champions. Regardless of who does, you can be sure that sparks will fly in this series between two great teams. Keep reading to get the full details…
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Cleveland Cavaliers vs Golden State Warriors
- Time: Thursday, June 02, 2016 9:00 PM ET
- Place: Oracle Arena
- Betting Line: Golden State -6
- Total: 209
Cavaliers Betting
LeBron James comes into these finals with a huge chip on his shoulder after last year’s loss against this same team. Undoubtedly, King James will settle for nothing less than a crushing defeat of his opponents.
And, this year he has two additional weapons helping him out. Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving will play in this series; if you recall Love didn’t play at all in last year’s Finals, while Irving only played in game 1. This made it hard for James because he had practically all the responsibility of doing everything from rebounding to driving to shooting. This is a huge hole to fill, even for a player such as James.
Now that Love and Irving will play, it gives the Cavaliers huge leverage to win the Championship. These three players have combined to be a lethal scoring machine that’s hard to stop. Love can go toe-to-toe with Klay Thompson, while Irving is perhaps as good as James in driving to the basket.
If the Cavaliers can figure out a way of limiting Curry and Thompson’s shooting, it leaves James open to do plenty of damage. The Warriors may not have one player in particular to stop James, let alone the trio of Love, Thompson and James. Not only that, this year, apart from these three players, the Cavaliers have plenty of talent the Warriors hasn’t seen yet.
Warriors Betting
The Warriors are the team to beat this year, that should be evident to anyone. Their road to the Finals is testament to this team’s grit and determination. Having beat the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Western Conference Finals after being down three games should prove this point.
Now, much of this team’s success comes down to Stephen Curry. Regardless that at times he seemed to struggle against the Thunder, in the end he came through for this team and led them to where they are now.
However, giving all the credit to Curry is wrong. This is one heck of a team and if Curry is great, the other half of the Splash Brothers, Klay Thompson is not far behind. In fact, both Curry’s and Thompson’s shooting abilities are the motor that powers this team’s offense. Between these two, opposing defenders are often left bobbing their heads unable to stop the barrage of buckets.
It’s likely the Warriors will stick to the strategy that’s served them thus far. If the Cavs cannot put a lid on them, we’re all in store for one heck of a shootout.
Betting Trends
- Cleveland is 7-3 ATS in its last 10 games
- Cleveland is 12-2 SU in its last 14 games
- Cleveland is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
- Golden State is 7-3 ATS in its last 10 games when playing at home against Cleveland
- Golden State is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Cleveland
- The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Golden State's last 6 games when playing at home against Cleveland
Game Prediction: Golden State wins the first game.