They meet again. After a pair of grueling Eastern and Western Conference Finals, the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers have once again advanced to the NBA Finals, where they will face off for the championship.
The Cavaliers had a tumultuous season and the playoffs have been tough, but the greatness of LeBron James has willed them to the final series. The Golden State Warriors had to rally past a tough Houston Rockets squad to get to this point. They are the favorites to claim their third championship in four years, further cementing their legacy as one of the greatest teams in NBA history.
It all begins later this week as everyone will be tuning in to see if James can pull the upset of the super team in Oakland. Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Co. expect to come away with more hardware in NBA basketball finals futures.
The 2018 NBA Finals begin with Game 1 Thursday, May 31, 2018 at 9 p.m. ET at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. This series will be nationally televised on ABC.
We'll have NBA odds at BookMaker.eu available for every game of the 2018 NBA Playoffs.
Odds Analysis
The Warriors have been listed as big-time favorites to win this series. The oddsmakers have listed them at -1100, while the Cavaliers are the longshots at +711. The line is clearly inviting action on Cleveland and that has been the case thus far, with the Cavaliers getting more than 92 percent of the money to pull off the upset.
It would be a big surprise to see the Warriors lose this series, especially with Cavaliers star forward Kevin Love in the concussion protocol as Game 1 approaches, but at these odds, Cleveland is certainly the more logical selection in NBA basketball odds.
Key Stat
4. That’s the number of consecutive times the Cavaliers and the Warriors have met in the NBA Finals, including this season. The Warriors have won two of those three previous titles and will be favored to win this year too. Many of the big stars have been around for all of these showdowns, including James with the Cavs and Curry, Thompson and Green for the Warriors.
The teams met twice in the regular season, and Golden State claimed victory there each time as well. But, you can’t count out the Cavaliers, especially not with the way James has been playing. It was James, after all, who orchestrated the epic comeback in the 2016 NBA FInals where he, nearly single-handedly, helped his team claw back from a 3-1 deficit to claim the first ever title for Cleveland. James has won the NBA Finals MVP three times in his career.
Injury Report
Love collided with Celtics forward Jayson Tatum in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals and left the game. He didn’t return and was also out for Game 7 of that series. Love is in the concussion protocol and it’s unknown if and when he will be cleared to return to action.
He is a huge piece of the puzzle for Cleveland, which has struggled to give James the supporting cast he needs to win a championship. Keep a close eye on Love’s status as his availability could help shift the odds dramatically in this series.
Golden State’s four stars are healthy but Andre Iguodala missed the final four games of the Western Conference Semifinals with a leg injury. He hopes to get back soon, and while he’s not as important as Love, Iguodala is still a vital piece on Golden State’s side of things.
Free NBA ATS Picks
The Warriors are too big of favorites on the moneyline, and the smarter play is attempting to pick the exact number of games it will take them to close out this series.
Golden State gets the first two games of the series at home and will be heavy favorites to win them both and get out to a commanding lead. Expect that to happen before Cleveland fights back for a Game 3 victory. That momentum won’t last long as a Game 4 victory on the road will put the Warriors on the cusp of a title, and they will close this series out back at home to set in motion another championship celebration.
James is great, but he is running into a buzzsaw. The Warriors are one of the best teams ever and will flex their muscles once again in the NBA Finals in NBA basketball wagering. Take Golden State to knock out Cleveland in five games to claim the title.
NBA ATS Pick: Warriors over the Cavaliers in five
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