The Cleveland Cavaliers are 4-8 straight up and 4-7-1 against the spread over their last 12 postseason road games. The Cavaliers will try to figure things out on the road as huge underdogs in Game 1 against the Golden State Warriors this Thursday night.
NBA Finals Game 1 odds: Sportsbooks set Cavaliers as large road underdogs on betting lines
The Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t getting much love from the sportsbooks heading into the opener of the 2018 NBA Finals on Thursday night, with Golden State big betting chalk.
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Cleveland is a 12.5-point road underdog in Oakland at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. The Warriors went 3-0 SU and 2-0-1 ATS in their three home games against the Cavaliers in last year’s NBA Finals.
Cleveland Cavaliers at Golden State Warriors
When: Thursday, May 24, 9:00 p.m. ET
Where: Oracle Arena, Oakland, California
Betting Line / Total: Golden State -12.5 / 214.5 Points
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavaliers snapped a three-game road losing streak with their Game 7 win over Boston, gutting out an 87-79 win over the Celtics. LeBron James played all 48 minutes of the game, leading his team to victory with 35 points, 15 rebounds, nine assists and two blocks.
In a fairly worrisome stat, Cleveland averaged only 86.8 points per game on the road against Boston. That level of production won’t come close to being enough against this Golden State offense.
These two teams have plenty of history together in the postseason with 18 games played across the last three NBA Finals. Golden State holds the edge over those 18 games with an 11-7 SU and 10-7-1 ATS record.
Golden State Warriors
For the second straight game on Monday night, the Warriors erased a double-digit deficit at the end of the first half, eventually coming away with a 101-92 victory on the road in Game 7 over the Houston Rockets.
It’s impossible to know what that series may have looked like had Chris Paul not gone down with an injury, but the Warriors could only focus on what they had control over, and they did exactly that with two brilliant back-to-back second half performances to advance into the NBA Finals.
Since losing two home games to Cleveland back in 2016, Golden State is 17-1 SU and 9-8-1 ATS over its last 18 postseason home games.
Thursday night’s total is set at 214.5 points. The UNDER is 4-0 in Golden State’s last four home games according to the OddsShark NBA Database.
This may be the fourth straight time that the Warriors and Cavaliers are meeting in the NBA Finals, but the vibe around this series feels different. On paper it doesn’t feel like James has the supporting cast to challenge a team as deep as Golden State, but perhaps a big performance in Game 1 could change the narrative.
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