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It's hard to say that any of the NBA Finals games have really been all that good. None have been close in the fourth quarter, and all three ended with all of the superstars the series have to offer sitting on the bench with their fates already sealed.
That hasn't made it any less interesting of a series, though. The Cleveland Cavaliers fought back from their 33-point defeat in Game 2 to respond with a 30-point victory in Game 3, and now, they've got a shot to level the NBA Finals with the Golden State Warriors in quick order on Friday night at the Q.
NBA Finals Odds at BookMaker.eu
Golden State Warriors +2
Cleveland Cavaliers -2
Over/Under 206.5
SERIES RECAP
LeBron James decided that the Cavaliers were going to win Game 3 of this series, and he took over the same way we saw him do so in the Finals last year. The King shot 14-of-26 from the field and had a couple of thunderous dunks along the way, totaling 32 points with 11 boards and six assists. He played amazing defense on Stephen Curry as he has all series long, and he clearly made up for the loss of Kevin Love due to injury.
With Love still in the NBA's concussion protocol, it's anyone's guess whether he's going to be available for this game or not. However, if J.R. Smith shoots 5-for-10 from beyond the arc as he did in Game 3 and scores 20 points again while Kyrie Irving scores 30 again, the Cavaliers are really tough to beat.
Still, live bettors knows that "that run" for Golden State is always a split second away from happening. We still haven't seen either Klay Thompson or Stephen Curry put up a 20-point game yet in this series, let alone a 30-point or 40-point game as both are clearly capable of.
KEY MATCHUP
Your move, Golden State.
After two games of trying to figure out how to stick with the small lineup of the Warriors, the Cavaliers finally have the answer at this point. James hates playing the power forward spot, but he did that almost exclusively in Game 3, and it was a winning combination for sure. Adding the extra wing player on the court in Richard Jefferson and basically only Iman Shumpert and Channing Frye coming off the bench helped dramatically, and the argument could be made that this team is just better suited to play without Love than with him.
Andrew Bogut, Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala… none of the three had any luck trying to defend against James in the post, and when all of the attention crashed down to him, Curry had nothing left to give to Irving on the defensive side of the ball.
It's all because James moved over to play the four instead of the three, and if the Dubs can't figure out how to stop Cleveland answer to the "death lineup," live bettors could find "that run" hard to come by for the visitors.
KEY STATS
You might be asking yourself how many times this year the Splash Brothers went three consecutive games with neither one scoring 20+ points. It never happened. Granted, three blowout games haven't helped get either Thompson or Curry to the 20-point mark in this series, and neither one has played more than 36 minutes in a game yet in the Finals. It'll happen at some point though, and when it does, that's when the Cavaliers really have to watch out for live betting purposes.
If you thought Golden State went on massive runs in Games 1 and 2, wait until Curry and Thompson start getting into the act. The Warriors shot just 9-of-33 from beyond the arc in Game 3, and the likelihood of that continuing is virtually nothing.
The most interesting stat from Game 3 though, was that Cleveland – playing with its smallest lineup of the series for the most part, mind you – outrebounded Golden State 52-32. It was the rebounding advantage that gave the Warriors so much in the way of fits against Oklahoma City, and if this keeps up in Game 4, we're going to be headed back to Oakland with the NBA Finals effectively reduced to a best-of-three series.
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! Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers will start at 9:00 p.m. ET on Friday, June 10, 2016, at Quicken Loans Arena. The contest will be broadcast on ABC.
