Golden State Warriors vs Cleveland Cavaliers
Golden State are now up 3-0 against Cleveland, and they have a chance to complete a sweep in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
The league hasn’t seen a sweep in the finals since 2007 when a LeBron James-led Cavaliers lost to the San Antonio Spurs in four games.
However, with how things are shaping up, it’s not impossible for the Dubs to achieve the elusive feat and pile more misery on LeBron. After all, it’s not often that a team can boast beating The King at the peak of his powers.
While most fans hope the Warriors would give the Cavs the W in Game 4 before finishing them off via a gentleman’s sweep, NBA Finals betting tips suggest that it’s unlikely to happen. The Bay Area team certainly don’t want any reminder of that 3-1 horror story.
Talking Points
Cleveland fans had their hopes up heading to Game 3. The Cavs have only lost once at the Quicken Loans Arena this postseason and were riding an eight-game winning streak prior to the match-up.
However, as it turns out, home-court advantage was not enough for the Cavs to defeat the Warriors. Golden State are simply in another level.
Having four All-Stars showed its benefit in their latest match-up. With Steph Curry and Klay Thompson playing poorly and combining for just three makes from beyond the arc, Kevin Durant stepped up and denied the Cavs a victory with his 43 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists.
KD doing most of the work for Warriors with 13pts in Q1! #WhateverItTakes #DubNation #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/Y0Ziksz8kY
— SBOBET (@SBOBET) June 7, 2018
Durant’s career-high overshadowed another brilliant performance from LeBron James who finished with a triple-double of 33 points, 10 boards and 11 dimes.
It also put a damper on Rodney Hood’s coming-of-age performance that saw the former Utah Jazz guard shoot 63.6 percent from the field in 25 minutes of play.
Another matter worthy of discussion is Andre Iguodala’s return to the Warriors lineup. The former Philadelphia 76ers star and 2015 NBA Finals MVP had a solid outing for the Dubs in his first game since picking up a knee injury in the Western Conference Finals against the Houston Rockets.
Iguodala, who completes Golden State’s famed “Hamptons 5” lineup, finished with eight points and two rebounds. Nonetheless, it’s worth noting that the Warriors outscored the Cavs by 14 points in the 22 minutes that he played on the court. Iguodala was a plus-14 after the game, second to Kevin Durant in terms of effectiveness.
Indeed, if the Cavs can’t beat the Warriors who weren’t even at their best, then there’s no way they’ll be able to take down the defending champions in this series.
As usual, the Cavs need everything to go their way in Game 4. Besides making their shots, they need the Curry, Thompson, Durant and Draymond Green to have a bad day at the same time—I won’t talk about the probability of that happening!
The Warriors have their sights on a third title in four years, and it’s doubtful if the Cavs have enough gas and fighting spirit left to at least delay the inevitable.
History
The Warriors are looking for the first NBA Finals sweep in 11 years, something which they failed to do in the past two years.
In 2016, Golden State were up 2-0 against the Cavs, but they choked big time and eventually gave up a 3-1 lead to allow Cleveland to win their first Larry O’Brien Trophy. Meanwhile, in 2017, the Warriors lost in their third game after getting a two-to-nothing lead, though they managed to close out the series in just five games for their second title.
On the other hand, the Cavs will be looking to become the first team in league history to reverse a 0-3 deficit. It has never been done before in the playoffs and seems an impossible task for them given their current roster.
LeBron and Co., though, will find some silver lining from the fact that there are a few teams who have forced a Game 7 after losing the first three games of a postseason series. The New York Knicks did it in the NBA Finals in 1951 against the Rochester Royals (now Sacramento Kings), while the Denver Nuggets also forced the decider against the Utah Jazz in their 1994 conference semi-finals matchup.
Furthermore, the Portland Trail Blazers were the last team to do it, pushing the third-seeded Dallas Mavericks to a do-or-die affair in their first-round meeting in 2003.
What are the odds?
Just like in Game 3, SBOBET odds on the Warriors vs Cavs Game 4 have Golden State winning by a low margin again.
In fact, SBOBET Asian Handicap sports betting put the Warriors at -6.00 @ 1.99, while the Cavs are at +6.00 @ 1.91.
On the other hand, our odds suggest a repeat of their latest match that ended with just a combined 212 points. Over 215.50 pays at 1.91, while Under 215.50 is at 1.97.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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