NBA Basketball Betting: Golden State Warriors at Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers never make anything easy. They barely won the Eastern Conference regular season title over ‘Canada’s Team’ the Toronto Raptors by one game. They got to sleepwalk through the first two rounds of the NBA playoffs, sweeping both the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks. That said more about the shabby state of competition in the NBA than anything else. They needed six games to eliminate the Toronto Raptors and now they’re facing elimination in Game Six of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.
The Golden State Warriors were a wrecking crew during the regular season finishing with a 72-9 record. They ran roughshod through the first two rounds of the playoffs before they ran into the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder held a 3-1 lead at one point in the series but the Warriors prevailed in seven games. They’re now on the verge of another NBA title with a victory here. At the same time, however, a loss here means a Game Seven on their home floor. Given the NBA’s reputation for manipulating results through officiating I’m sure they don’t want to risk a Game Seven against the league’s ‘poster boy’ LeBron James.
The biggest difference between these teams is focus, discipline and effort. LeBron James may very well be the best basketball player on the planet but the problem is that he’s well aware of this fact. As a result, he thinks he can ‘phone in’ performances and the rest of the Cavaliers follow his lead. Here’s an amazing stat–the Cleveland Cavaliers are 29-13 SU/18-24 ATS after a win by 10+ points. The conventional wisdom is that big wins help a team ‘create momentum’. It appears that in Cleveland’s case it creates ennui. Golden State, meanwhile, has demonstrated that they respond like vikings to poor performances. They lost twice at home during the regular season and in both cases they won and covered the ‘revenge meeting’. In all revenge games they’re 14-1 SU/12-3 ATS. Off an upset loss as a favorite they’re 9-3 SU/12-1 ATS. Most impressive perhaps is their performance off a double digit loss–they’re 8-1 SU/6-3 ATS this year and 25-6 SU/21-9 ATS in the last three seasons.
The Warriors are tougher mentally and that will bring them another NBA title.
BET GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS +2.5 OVER CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
