NBA Betting – Cavs Suckling at the Wrong Time

Cleveland Cavaliers at Golden State Warriors (-6.5, 207 o/u)

In Game 1 of the 2016 NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors () and Cleveland Cavaliers () picked up right where they left off in the 2015 edition, when Golden State won three straight to close the series in six.

The Cavs were hurting back then. Kevin Love missed the entire series; Kyrie Irving was in and out of the lineup. LeBron was essentially having to do it all himself. Cleveland can’t rely on that excuse this time around. Love and Irving both played big minutes in Game 1, but the outcome was the same as the Warriors cruised to a 104-89 win. The Cavaliers’ “Big Three” will look to break the team’s now four-game finals losing streak tonight in Game 2 at Oracle Arena (9:00 PM Eastern).

If you just looked at the stat line for the supposed key figures from Game 1, you’d think Cleveland won in a romp. Irving had 26 points, James had 23 (along with 12 boards and nine dimes), and Love had 17. Meanwhile, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson had just 20 points combined for Golden State.

But, just like last year’s series, Game 1 showcased Golden State’s depth. Shaun Livingston led the team with 20 points, while fellow reserves Andre Iguodala (12 points) Leandro Barbosa (11 points) also reached double-figures.

All told, the Warriors bench outscored Cleveland’s 45-10.

That’s awful news for the Cavaliers. Even on a night when they limited Curry and Thompson to 8 of 27 shooting, they still couldn’t hang at Oracle.

Their own poor shooting played a big part, of course. While Irving had 26 points, he was just 7 of 22 from the floor, and the entire team shot just 38-percent from the field. They did a nice job of getting to the line, going 18 of 20 from the stripe. But that’s about the only thing the Cleveland offense did well in Game 1.

I expect the Cavs to shoot better tonight, but I don’t see the outcome changing much, since I also expect Curry and Thompson to be much more efficient from the field and for the Warriors, as a team, to hit at a higher rate from three. (They were 9 of 27 in Game 1.)

Pick: Golden State (-6.5). 

(Photo credit: Keith Allison (LeBron James) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.)