NBA Finals odds: Cavaliers are heavy underdogs against Warriors
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The Cleveland Cavaliers are 12-2 straight up and 9-5 against the spread in their 14 postseason games this spring. With a healthy team that has been clicking offensively throughout the playoffs, the Cavaliers will try to upset the Golden State Warriors in a rematch of last year's NBA Finals.
Cleveland is a +180 underdog on the odds to win the NBA Finals over Golden State at -220 at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. The Warriors prevailed over the Cavaliers in six games when these two teams met in the finals last season.
Throughout most of the regular season, the Cavaliers looked like a team that was just getting by with its tremendous talent, not like a cohesive unit. That has changed in the postseason, where the Cavaliers are playing to their potential under head coach Tyronn Lue.
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With Kevin Love playing the best basketball of his Cavaliers career alongside a healthy Kyrie Irving and a well-rested LeBron James, this team looks good enough to give the defending champions a run for their money.
The Cavaliers are 0-5 SU and 1-4 ATS in their last five games against the Golden State Warriors per the OddsShark NBA Database. Cleveland lost both of its regular season games against the Warriors this year.
After breezing through the first two rounds of the postseason with five-game series wins over Houston and Portland, the Warriors were pushed to the brink against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Finals.
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Golden State opened that series in a 1-3 SU and ATS slump, and needed to win three straight games to punch their ticket to the NBA Finals. The defending champions did just that with a 3-0 SU and ATS run, bringing their record between the regular season and the postseason to 85-14 SU and 54-42-3 ATS.
While a series between the Thunder and the Cavaliers would have been fun, this is the series that almost everyone in the basketball world wanted to see.
Cleveland was forced to face the Warriors at less than full strength last season with Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving both out in the NBA Finals with injuries. But with both teams looking healthy and in form, this year's rematch could be one for the ages.
