NBA Finals Betting – (2) Cavaliers at (1) Warriors (Game 1)

Cleveland Cavaliers at Golden State Warriors (-6.5, 202.5 o/u)

It’s has been nine days since the last 2015 NBA playoff game, but the wait is over as the Cleveland Cavaliers (53-29, 22-19 Away) and the Golden State Warriors (67-15, 39-2 Home) meet in Game 1 of the NBA finals tonight at ORACLE Arena in Oakland (9:00 PM Eastern).

With Kevin Love out for the season and Kyrie Irving battling through tendonitis, the comparatively healthy Warriors come into Game 1 as 6.5-point favorites. But it remains to be seen how the youthful squad responds to the hiatus. Asked whether he was concerned about the effect the layoff would have on his team, Golden State head coach Steve Kerr did his best to play down the impact. “[W]hat I really found as a player was once you get out on the floor, you just start playing and everything returns to normal,” Kerr said to the Associated Press. “It’s still just a basketball game.”

The Warriors are looking for the fourth championship in franchise history and their first since 1975. An NBA Title would cap off a truly historic season for Golden State, which won a franchise record 67 games in the regular season and saw point guard Steph Curry (23.8 PPG, 7.7 APG) earn MVP honors.

The Warriors, and Curry in particular, have somehow managed to up their play in the postseason; Golden State has dropped just three games on its way to the finals, while Curry is averaging over 29 points per night.

For Cleveland, this will mark their first finals appearance since 2007 (during LeBron James’ first go-round with the team). The Cavs have never won an NBA championship. After reaching the finals in four consecutive years with the Heat, James (27.6 PPG, 10.4 APG in the playoffs) will be making an unprecedented fifth consecutive finals appearance.

Like in his initial tenure in Cleveland, James has had to put the Cavaliers on his back to reach this stage. The Cavs have a deeper roster than in 2007, but injuries to Kevin Love (who’s out for the season with a shoulder injury) and Kyrie Irving (who’s a go for Game 1 despite battling tendonitis) have largely undone management’s off-season magic.

“It’s an adjustment, but [it is] what it is at this point,” Irving explained in a post-practice interview with the press. “I’m just going to go out there and will myself to play.”

Home-court advantage figures to be huge in the finals. The Warriors – who will host four of the seven games, should the series go that far – have lost just three times at Oracle all season (twice in the regular season and once in the playoffs). James and the Cavs know that they’ll have to steal one in the toughest arena in the league if they’re going to lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

“I’ve been in so many loud arenas. This is going to be one of them,” James said to the AP. “I’ve played in OKC in the [2012] finals to start off the series. I’ve played in Boston. I’ve played in Detroit when they were in their heyday. I’ve played in Chicago in 2011 to open up the Eastern Conference finals. I’ve played in San Antonio.

“So I’ve been in some very loud buildings … I know tomorrow is going to be one of them. But I don’t add too much pressure on it. You just go out and you just try to play.”

With the Warriors an insane 46-3 at home this season, including playoffs, and LeBron James’ teams 0-3 all-time on the road in Game 1s of the Finals, look for Golden State to win straight-up. However, the Warriors have had trouble covering at home lately, going just 3-8 ATS in their last 11. They’re laying a healthy 6.5-points tonight, which makes the Cavs the play if you’re betting the spread.

The Warriors to win game one straight up, but covering the spread at home has been a problem for them, posting a 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games at home.

Picks: Straight-up: Warriors. Against the spread: Cavs (+6.5).

(Photo credit: Keith Allison from Baltimore, USA (AAAA0584) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)