NBA Finals Betting – Cavaliers at Warriors (Game 2)

Cleveland Cavaliers at Golden State Warriors (-7, 201.5 o/u)

Not even a 44-point effort from Lebron James was enough for the Cleveland Cavaliers to steal Game 1 of the 2015 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. James and company will have a second chance to steal home-court advantage tonight as they clash with the Warriors at Oracle Arena in Game 2 (8:00 PM Eastern).

The Cavaliers held a small lead for most of the game, but allowed Golden State to tie it late and were then outscored 10-2 in OT en route to a 108-100 loss.

James’ 44 points marked an NBA Finals career-high for the four-time MVP. LeBron shot 18 of 38 from the field and also added eight boards and six dimes, but missed the game-winning shot on the last play of regulation.

Despite his ridiculous state line, James wasn’t satisfied with his – or his team’s – performance.

“We all have to play better, including myself. I don’t think I was great. I’ve got to do better things out on the floor to help us be more precise offensively. I’ve got to communicate a little bit more defensively to help our team get over the hump. It’s not about me, it’s not about the next guy. It’s about all of us. We have to watch film and get better for Game 2”, said James according to Cleveland.com.

While it’s understandable that James didn’t come out and pin the loss on his teammates, the reality is that the Cavaliers’ lack of depth was a huge factor. The Golden State bench outscored the Cleveland reserves 34-9 in the game. Making matters worse, Cleveland saw star point guard Kyrie Irving re-injure his knee in overtime.

An MRI didn’t reveal any structural damage, but Irving is still questionable for Game 2 and isn’t likely to be as mobile as he was in Game 1 even if he does suit up.

“Obviously you can see in the tone of my voice I’m a little worried,” said a frustrated Irving to the Associated Press.

The Warriors have lost only three games at home this season, including playoffs, and managed to cover the 6.5-point spread in Game 1 due to a well-played overtime.

Offensively, Golden State was led by NBA MVP Steph Curry, who had 26 points and eight assists, and shooting guard Klay Thompson, who added 21.

Defensively, veteran Andre Iguodala came up huge late, forcing James into a miss on the potential game-winner.

Curry knows the team’s defense against James is just as important as anything they do offensively.

“LeBron’s going to dominate the ball and make plays. We have to just make it hard on him every possession. Don’t give him any easy buckets, and not let anybody else get a rhythm, and that’s what we’re going to try to do every game we play against them”, Curry said in the post-game press conference.

Despite Irving’s status being in question, James has proved he can carry this Cavs team and will do everything in his power to avoid going down 0-2 in the finals. While that might not be enough to get the win, it should mean that Cleveland – which is 6-2 ATS in its last eight games following an ATS loss – covers.

Pick: Cavaliers (+7).

(Photo credit: Keith Allison (flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode]. Photo has been cropped.)