The finals of the NBA playoffs will start Thursday.
Odds are provided by Oddsshark.com.
Cleveland at Golden State (-6)
It’s been awhile, but finally, the NBA finals will tip off this week with Golden State squaring off against Cleveland.
Which team will be hurt more by the layoff? I’m not sure, but so far gamblers are backing the Cavs to at least cover in game one. The line started out at seven points in favor of the Warriors. Now with little time remaining before tip off, the Cavs have sliced one point off that spread, and other sportsbooks are showing it even further reduced from six points.
Basically this series comes down to who’s better – the Warriors as a team with MVP Stephen Curry or LeBron. The Cavs are beat up, but still have plenty of weapons. However, the success from this series, similar to the conference semifinals and finals, will be on LeBron’s shoulders.
I feel like we’ve seen this narrative already play out in a LeBron finals. Let’s look back a few years ago when Kevin Durant was leading the Oklahoma City Thunder into the finals for the first time. Durant was the hot pick and many had dismissed LeBron’s ability to perform well in the finals after a disappointing showing against the Dallas Mavericks the previous year.
The Thunder came out and won game one, but eventually lost the next four en route to LeBron’s first title. Many experts were siding with the Thunder in that series, similar to the love being shown for the Warriors in this series.
LeBron will have a chip on his shoulder to perform. Take the Cavs in game one and see how oddsmakers judge this series going forward. Pick – Cleveland
