Games 1 and 2 of the NBA Finals were both easy under games through 48 minutes, but total players who have counted on lower scores are very unfortunate to only be 1-1.
With a dipping total and the law of averages bound to kick in eventually though, the Cleveland Cavaliers (66-32 SU, 48-50 ATS) and the Golden State Warriors (80-19 SU, 55-43 ATS) could easily see more points hit the board in Game 3.
THE LAW OF AVERAGES
Here's what you need to know about this series.
-LeBron James is shooting 40.3 percent from the field.
-Stephen Curry is shooting 34.9 percent from the field.
-The Warriors are shooting 29.0 percent from beyond the arc.
-The Cavaliers outside of James are shooting 29.5 percent from three-point range.
-The Warriors have scored more than 25 points in just two quarters.
-The Cavaliers are shooting 69 percent from the free throw line.
Do you really believe that all of these things are going to continue?
Let's look at the real truth from the regular season.
-LeBron James shot 48.8 percent from the field.
-Stephen Curry shot 48.7 percent from the field.
-The Warriors shot 39.8 percent from beyond the arc.
-The Cavaliers outside of LeBron James shot 36 percent from three-point range.
-The Warriors averaged over 25 points in every quarter this season.
-The Cavaliers shot 75.1 percent from the free throw line.
Granted, we know that these are the playoffs, and we know that these are two above-average defensive teams. Still, the pace isn't the problem of the proceedings, so the law of averages must kick in at some point. Just from that standpoint alone, scoring has to go up.
Remember too, that the oddsmakers are rarely wrong. The total of 203.5 was probably a fair total to start this series. After just two games, albeit two very low-scoring games by the measures set by the oddsmakers, adjusting down 8.5 points is a huge swing. Live bet accordingly.
THE DELI CAN'T BE OPEN FOREVER
With the way that Cleveland is playing right now with all of the isolation ball with James, we could see some of its averages continuing. The bottom line is that James is being asked to play around 45 minutes a night at this point, and he is wearing out at the ends of games.
Golden State though, just has to be better offensively in this game, knowing that one could argue that Game 2 was its worst offensive game of the entire season. It was the first time that the team was held under 60 points through three quarters all year long, and a lot of it was because of the ball denial to Curry.
The fact of the matter is that the Dubs came up with the answer to this problem as the game continued. Klay Thompson was getting himself open and taking strong shots early on, and he started off 7-for-9 from the field.
However, as the game continued, Curry got impatient with the basketball thanks to Matthew Dellavedova and his tight man-to-man defense and both took terrible shots and turned it over too much.
Steve Kerr is one of the best in the NBA at making adjustments, and he is going to have to get Curry on more drives to the basket to loosen up Dellavedova. We saw how strong Curry was able to be with the ball in his hands on his way to the basket both at the end of the fourth quarter and in overtime, but when he started to settle again at the end of the game, he made Dellavedova look better than he probably actually was.
The hype is there right now on Dellavedova, but we still don't see him as a viable option here in the long run for Cleveland. If the Cavaliers are going to continue to trot him out there, especially with the offensively-inept Tristan Thompson on the court at the same time, we see much better luck coming for Golden State than it has found so far in this series.
The NBA betting lines for this Tuesday game were first available at BookMaker Sportsbook. The Cavaliers opened as one-point favorites alongside a total of 195. Live wagering during commercials offers adjusted moneylines, totals and spreads. Log in and start gambling during the game now!
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 the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers will go down Tuesday, June 9, 2015 at 9 p.m. ET at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH. The matchup will be televised live on ABC.
