The King is officially home.
LeBron James left South Beach to come back to Ohio to try to bring the Cleveland Cavaliers their first ever NBA title. He's four wins away from accomplishing that very goal. Beating the Golden State Warriors won't be easy, but sharp money has been on Cleveland throughout the lead up to the NBA Finals. Here's why else the Cavs can finally claim the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
KEY PLAYER: LEBRON JAMES
Duh, right? James is the best player on the planet, and he can win a game in any number of ways all by himself. You only need to look back at Game 3 against Atlanta when he started off 0-for-10 from the field and finished with 37 points, 18 boards and 13 assists to lead his team to an overtime victory that essentially put the series away.
There's a big question about James' efficiency in these playoffs, especially when it comes to shooting the ball from long range, but don't let that 17.6 percent scare you. James is hitting the shots that he needs to make. That shot from the corner he put up against the Hawks in Game 3 was the de facto dagger in a game which could have gotten away from the Cavs, and he did all of that while clearly in some pain with a foot injury that nearly caused him to go to the bench in overtime.
KEY STAT: 18.9 ASSISTS PER GAME ALLOWED IN THE PLAYOFFS
The Cavaliers are a lot better defensively than you think they are, especially with Kevin Love not playing. Tristan Thompson is a fantastic rim protector, and he can step out and guard bigs on the perimeter when he has to do so with Timofey Mozgov in the game playing center.
The key to the Golden State offense is going to be keeping the ball moving. When the ball is whipping around the perimeter, you just know that the Dubs are going to ultimately find an open look from downtown and probably hit it over half the time when it’s uncontested.
However, the Cavs rank second in these playoffs behind Portland (who played against Memphis' lowly offense only) in assists per game allowed with 18.9. Yes, some of that has to do with the quality of teams which they played against, but the Cavaliers did the job they needed to do to protect against threes off of the proverbial extra pass, something that they will have to do well in this series against Golden State from the get go.
THE X-FACTOR: FATHER TIME
Father Time is going to be a huge key here for the Cavaliers. They were certainly banged up going into that series against the Hawks. Not only was James playing on a bum left leg, but Kyrie Irving sat out the first three games with a knee injury before coming back and playing Game 4. With eight days between games, there is a real opportunity to not only get these men healthy, but to really formulate a game plan to get some other players involved more offensively.
James knows that he has to count more on his role players in this series, and though he is still going to have the ball in his hands a ton, getting guys like J.R. Smith and Matthew Dellavedova going from long range will clearly help.
BookMaker will be the first to have the point spread for all of the games in this NBA playoff series. 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 series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors will start at 9:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, June 4, 2015. Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 will be played at Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA, while Games 3, 4 and 6 will take place at Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH.
