The Cleveland Cavaliers (64-31 SU, 46-49 ATS) should be thanking LeBron James for putting them in this position to go to the NBA Finals.
Without him, they are clearly nothing more than a 30-win team at best, but now, a win over the Atlanta Hawks (68-29 SU, 56-39-2 ATS) will clinch up this series and send the team to the NBA Finals on a seven-game winning streak with basically just LeBron and four replacement level players on the court with him.
ODDS ANALYSIS
The oddsmakers are going to continue to back Cleveland in this series, and for good reason. James is the best player on the court, and he is the only difference-maker out there.
However, if word gets out that James might be limited by his foot injury, one which bothered him enough that he signaled to the bench to bring in a replacement for a split second on Sunday, that line will plummet to close to a pick 'em in a hurry.
INJURY REPORT
Assuming that James is playing, the only question for the Cavaliers is if Kyrie Irving is going to suit. He hasn't played to this point in this series with a knee problem, and we don't see him being risked in a game which, for all intents and purposes, probably means nothing.
Maybe if Cleveland loses and this series goes back to Atlanta, we'd have a different story on our hands, but until the Hawks prove they have a pulse, we don't see Irving putting on anything but a suit.
The Hawks won't have Kyle Korver in this one. DeMarre Carroll is going to keep playing even though he clearly isn't anywhere near 100 percent thanks to his leg issue. Al Horford will be looked at for a suspension after getting ejected from Game 3, though we doubt that he will get further discipline from the NBA.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"Started out the game out of character, out of rhythm. But I had to make a difference. It's a great feeling to be able to make plays for your teammates. I'm happy I was able to make a few." – Cavaliers forward LeBron James after his maestro performance in Game 3 in which he logged a triple-double
BETTING TRENDS
- With their cover on Sunday, the Hawks improved to 8-3 ATS in their last 11 meetings against the Cavaliers overall.
- The underdog team is now 3-0 ATS in this series and is 4-0 ATS dating back to the regular season.
- The OVER is 4-0 in the last four meetings between these two teams played here at Quicken Loans Arena.
KEY STATS
41: The number of shots which Jeff Teague was responsible for on Sunday night. He took 23 shots himself and made 18 final passes to teammates. That's nearly half of Atlanta's 88 shots coming off of Teague's hands, and for a man who played such inefficient ball, the Hawks can't have that happen again in Game 4.
43.3 percent: The Cavaliers' three-point shooting percentage if you exclude James from their numbers. Matthew Dellavedova and Iman Shumpert both hit four threes, while J.R. Smith had three triples and James Jones had two. That's all these guys have to do on the court is get out of the way and hit threes from the corners, and they did their jobs perfectly to help the Cavaliers win Game 4.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
Forget about it, Atlanta. Cleveland played an atrocious game, and James started off 0-for-10 from the field before turning on the jets, and the Hawks still couldn't win.
Even though there were 225 points scored on Sunday, the offenses were both horrible throughout the game as we saw it, particularly in important possessions. Outside of James, Smith was the only man who hit a shot in the last six minutes of the game, while the Hawks finished 1-of-13 from the field.
It's all coming down to a low-scoring, gritty, ugly game, fitting for what this series has been all about.
Cleveland 87, Atlanta 82
The NBA betting lines for this Tuesday contest will be released first by BookMaker. Now you can wager in-game while the action unfolds with BookMaker's live betting option.
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The matchup between Atlanta Hawks and the Cleveland Cavaliers will go down Tuesday, May 26, 2015 at 8:30 p.m. ET at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH. The game will be televised nationally on TNT.
