TWO out of two in Game 2, now Nick Wells (NVW89) casts his confident eye over Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
Golden State @ Cleveland | Wednesday 01:10
Well, well, well. What a difference a game makes! After cruelly being robbed by OT in Game 1, we finally got the rub of the green (no pun intended!), as Draymond Green grabbed his ninth and 10th rebounds in OT.
LeBron was at his freakish best and scored over the 30 points that we needed and thanks to the dogged defence of Matthew Dellavedova, Cleveland came away with the win and tied the series up at 1-1. I was slightly disappointed that I bottled tipping up the Cavs at 3/1 as planned but some of you messaged me saying that you still backed them despite my change of heart, which is great.
The series now moves to the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland and the place should be absolutely rocking. It’s well documented that the city of Cleveland has had it rough times when it comes to sport and has had to endure a 50 year drought for a major championship.
If anyone is going to end that hoodoo, it’s going to be the hometown hero, LeBron James. LeBron has been sensational ever since he took a couple weeks off during the regular season and he definitely hasn't slowed down in the play-offs. He hasn't been the most efficient shooting wise but he has done whatever he has needed to for his team to compete.
I therefore can not see him letting the Warriors off the hook and I fully expect them to win Game 3. Cleveland now have the chance to take a 2-1 lead back to Oakland for Game 4 and I think that with the desperate Ohio crowd behind them, they can take Game 3. SkyBet are offering us Cleveland +2 at 5/6 which gives us a two point cushion should they lose by 1-2 point margin.
After two fairly low scoring games in Oakland (not including OT), I think we may see a few more points put up on the board in this one. As mentioned in my first preview, The Dubs have been scoring better away from home in the play-offs and I think the change of scenery will do the Warriors’ shooters the world of good.
Add this to the additional offence the Cavs should get from their role players (role players tend to perform better at home) and the fact there will be some very tired legs on the defensive end after two gruelling 53 minute games, I think this one should go over the total. Betway are offering 4/5 for the game to have Over 192.5 points and that is worth taking in my opinion.
In terms of the player markets I expect Steph Curry will be looking to bounce back from a poor game last time out and I think now could be a good time to take advantage of his slightly lower points total. His total has been set at 26.5 and I think that is definitely worth taking. However, I'm going to be a little more ambitious (possibly cocky?) and go for the 6/4 available from Ladbrokes, that he scores 30 or more. Dellavedova has done a great job on him thus far but if the MVP is locked in on Tuesday night then there could be little stopping him.
Secondly, I'm going to swerve ‘King James' and look for a couple of the Cavs role players to step up on the offensive end. Timofey Mozgov to score Over 11.5 points with 888sport and JR Smith to score Over 13.5 points with Ladbrokes both look like value to me and with LeBron set to get around 30 of the Cavs projected 96 or so points, I think we can trust these guys to get their fair share of the other 66 points. Let's go Cavs!
Best Bets
Golden State @ Cleveland – Cleveland +2 (5/6 Skybet)
Golden State @ Cleveland – Over 192.5 Points (4/5 Betway)
Golden State @ Cleveland – Steph Curry To Score 30 Points Or More (6/4 Ladbrokes)
Golden State @ Cleveland – JR Smith Over 13.5 Points (4/5 Ladbrokes)
Golden State @ Cleveland – Timofey Mozgov – Over 11.5 Points – 17/25 (888Sport)
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