The Cleveland Cavaliers fell to 12-2 straight up and 7-5-2 against the spread this postseason with their Game 1 loss to the Golden State Warriors. The Cavaliers hope to bounce back with a win in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night.
Cavaliers vs. Warriors odds, 2017 NBA Finals: Cleveland seeks win as Game 2 underdog
LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers will try to steal Game 2 on the road against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday as betting underdogs at the sportsbooks.
Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
Cleveland is a 9-point road underdog at Golden State at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. Before this series, the Cavaliers hadn’t been an underdog at any point this postseason.
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavaliers are too good and too experienced to panic after just one bad game, and they already know they can come from behind on Golden State after erasing a 3-1 series deficit in last year’s NBA Finals.
But there won’t be a repeat this season if the supporting cast around LeBron James isn’t a lot better. James scored 28 points and had 15 rebounds and eight assists in Game 1 while Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving combined for 39 points. The rest of the team added a paltry 24 points in Cleveland’s 113-91 blowout loss.
Since Dec. 26, the Cavaliers have been underdogs 12 times. Cleveland is 1-11 SU and 3-9 ATS over that stretch, per the OddsShark NBA Database.
Betting Line / Total: Golden State -9 / 220.5 Points
Golden State Warriors
Golden State had all offseason to stew over last year’s loss in the NBA Finals and looked like a team ready to take advantage of another shot on Thursday night. Kevin Durant led the way with 38 points, easily offsetting an ice-cold shooting night from Klay Thompson, who had only six points on 3-of-16 shooting from the floor.
With the blowout win, Golden State improved to 13-0 SU and 9-4 ATS in postseason play and 27-1 SU and 19-7-2 ATS over its last 28 games.
Sunday night’s total is set at 220.5 points at the sportsbooks. The UNDER is 11-3 in Cleveland’s last 14 games as an underdog.
Cleveland was blown out in both Game 1 and Game 2 last year before turning the series around, so fans and bettors should be careful not to overreact to the ugly first game. Having said that, the Warriors are clearly a better team than they were last year, and they are clicking at an unbelievable level. The Cavaliers can’t afford anything but their best effort if they hope to upset the Warriors.
Cleveland Cavaliers at Golden State Warriors
When: Sunday, June 4, 8 p.m. ET
Where: Oracle Arena, Oakland, Calif.
