NBA Betting – Warriors Going Green to Finish off Cavs

Golden State Warriors at Cleveland Cavaliers (-2, 207.5 o/u)

A clear trend is developing over these NBA Finals: the smaller the lineups, the more exciting the series. Kevin Love’s Game 3 injury paved the way for Cleveland’s “Big Two” to go to work and get the Cavaliers back in the series. Then a controversial Draymond Green suspension opened the door for another Cleveland win, extending the finals but giving the Golden State Warriors an opportunity to clinch the title at Quicken Loans Arena for the second straight year.

Green will be back in the lineup for Game 6 (Thursday, June 16, 9:00 PM Eastern) but Golden State will be down another big, after Andrew Bogut was ruled out for the remainder of the series with multiple bone bruises. The big Australian may not make a huge impact on the scoresheet, but his devastating screens open up space for Steph Curry and Klay Thompson to launch from deep.

There’s no dispute that Green is more important to this team than Bogut, though. Green is the only Warrior to dress for all 88 wins this season (an NBA record). He’s the spoon that stirs their dominant crunch-time drink and is the general on defense, communicating switches on screens better than anyone.

Without Green in the lineup, the Warriors allowed the Cavs to shoot 53-percent from the field in Game 5. That included a pair of efficient 41-point games from LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. When LeBron’s perimeter shot is falling, he’s nearly impossible to stop, but Golden State can’t allow Irving to have another 70-percent night from the field.

As much as overreacting to losses has been a theme these playoffs, Warriors fans don’t have that much to worry about heading into Game 6. Not only has the team proven it can bounce back from rare losses (they’ve lost back-to-back games just once all year), but they were uncharacteristically abysmal from three, shooting just 33-percent and missing plenty of wide-open looks. Look for that to turn around in Game 6.

If Game 5 served as LeBron’s “watch out, I’m pissed” performance, Game 6 will surely be Green’s response. The best way to disrespect someone for stepping over you isn’t to flick him in the Varejao’s; it’s to win the Larry O’Brien trophy on his home court.

Throw in the rarity of the Warriors being underdogs, and the betting outlook on this game is juicy. Take Golden State to get it done, and throw a little extra on Draymond getting Finals MVP.

Picks: Warriors (+2); Green for MVP (2/1)

(Photo Credit: Ash Carter (Flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/].)