Can Cleveland bounce back in Game 3? NBA Finals betting tips

Golden State leads the Finals 2-0

Game One: Golden State Warriors defeated Cleveland Cavaliers 104-89
Game Two: Golden State Warriors defeated Cleveland Cavaliers 110-77
Game Three: Thursday, June 9, 2016, at 11am AEST, at Cleveland
Game Four: Saturday, June 11, 2016, at 11am AEST, at Cleveland
Game Five (if required): Tuesday, June 14, 2016, at 11am AEST, at Golden State
Game Six (if required): Friday, June 17, 2016, at 11am AEST, at Cleveland
Game Seven (if required): Monday, June 20, 2016, at 10am AEST, at Golden State

Season record:
Golden State Warriors: 73-9 (39-2 at home, 34-7 away)
Cleveland Cavaliers: 57-25 (33-8 at home, 24-17 away)

Series odds:
Golden State Warriors ($1.10 with Sportsbet.com.au)
Cleveland Cavaliers ($7 with Sportsbet.com.au)

Game two head to head odds:
Golden State Warriors ($1.96 with sportsbet.com.au)
Cleveland Cavaliers ($1.87 with WilliamHill.com.au)

Game two line odds:
Golden State Warriors: -6.5 ($1.95 with WilliamHill.com.au)
Cleveland Cavaliers: +6.5 ($1.95 with WilliamHill.com.au)

WILL the Cleveland Cavaliers even win a game in the NBA Finals?

That’s the question on every one’s lips after the remarkable slaughter the Golden State Warriors handed them in game two.

And, yes, we know the Cavs get to go home, but the Golden State Warriors are $1.96 to win.

That’s right, after beating the Cavs by 33 points and taking a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals, they are not the favourite.

Remarkable stuff.

The Warriors’ even spread of talent has been simply irresistable.

And they have even been given a +1 head start on the handicap line. Snap that up!

No one has completely dominated either game, although Draymond Green has certainly been the best player in the series so far.

And he showed how good he can be, wrecking the Cavs with a superb 28 point, seven rebound, five assist, five three pointer performance that tore the hearts out of the Cleveland faithful.

So ludicrous was the effort from the Cavs, that reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry played just 25 minutes, scoring 18 points with nine boards, four assists and four treys.

It was the bench, again, that stepped up, just like game one, with the Brazilian Blur Leandro Barbosa knocking down 10 points in 18 minutes off the pine.

The bench shot a ridiculous 61 per cent in the match with every single player who took the floor enjoying a positive +/-.

The Warriors made 15 threes, the Cavs just five.

Point guard Kyrie Irving led the way in game one, but he did anything but in game two, going five for 14 for just 10 points and only handing out one assist. That is not the performance of a man who would wish to be called a superstar.

Ditto Kevin Love. The towering power forward was a stat stuffing machine on losing teams in Minnesota, but it has come to the crunch in the finals with Cleveland and he has gone missing. It didn’t help that he copped an errant elbow to the head, but, given that you’re paid millions, maybe you need to be made of sterner stuff.

His five points in 21 minutes with just three rebounds is simply not good enough.

Some say the Warriors’ title of 2015 has an asterisk because Irving played just the one game and Love was out.

Those people might want to have a rethink after the beginning of this series.

The King Lebron James tried hard, but he had a horrible seven turnovers to go with 19 points, nine assists, eight rebounds and four steals, but he also went only seven of 17 from the field.

Match predictions

Match winner: Golden State Warriors to win ($1.96 with sportsbet.com.au)
Line prediction: Golden State Warriors +1 ($1.92 with sportsbet.com.au)

Plenty people are hoping and wishing the Cavs can take something out of home court, but it is just so hard to see that happening. They should be able to keep it closer, so we have backed the Warriors under 10.5, but with the caveat of the ridiculous result in their last visit to Ohio. In that game back in January, the Warriors continued their dominance over the team the defeated in last year’s finals with a 34 point win, 132-98, leading by a 43 points at one time in the game. And they won game six in Cleveland to take the title last year. This series has all the makings of a sweep. We just can’t see this Cleveland roster defeating the determined Warriors. Love and Irving have not stacked up, James hasn’t been able to go into beast mode like he did in last season’s finals series and the Cavs’ bench has been smacked by the Warriors. They have been completely incapable of defending the Warriors’ share-it-around, three-point-splashing approach. The Warriors have only lost back to back games once this season – against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals. The Cavs have to win four of the next five. It’s just not going to happen. Lebron is an all time great, but his efforts in finals are questionable. If the Cavs are going two win, it is up to him to put them on his back and carry them home.