2016 NBA Playoffs
NBA Finals – Game #3
#1 Golden State Warriors at #1 Cleveland Cavaliers
Warriors Lead Best of Seven Series 2-0
Wednesday, June 8, 2016, 9:05 pm Eastern, TV: ABC
Quicken Loans Arena- Cleveland, Ohio
Opening Line: Cleveland -1
Current Line: Golden State -1
Opening Total: 206
Current Total: 206
Opening Money Line: Cavaliers -120 / Warriors +100
Current Money Line: Warriors -120 / Cavaliers +100
So far in two games of the NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors have been far and away the better team. now the Cleveland Cavaliers look to get back into the series at home in game three Wednesday night. Golden State won game one 104-89 but only led by six points going into the fourth quarter. In game two, the Warriors crushed the Cavaliers 110-77 Sunday night in Oakland.
Golden State was a 6.5 point favorite in game two and the total was 209. The Cavaliers led 21-19 at the end of the first, but Golden State outscored them by 10 points in the second quarter. Also in that quarter, Cavaliers forward Kevin Love took an elbow to the head from Harrison Barnes. He was down on the court for several minutes but did return to the game. However, he left in the third quarter with a concussion and did not return. He is questionable for game three. Golden State expanded the lead to 20 by the end of the third and cruised to a 33 point victory. Cleveland shot 35.4% from the field including 5/23 from three point range. Golden State shot 54.3% from the field including 15/33 from three point range. Draymond Green had 28 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists for the Warriors. Steph Curry had 18 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Klay Thompson had 17 points. However, Curry and Thompson combined for 8 turnovers. LeBron James had 19 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds and 4 assists, but also had 7 turnovers. Richard Jefferson scored 12 points off the bench and Kyrie Irving had 10 points. No other Cavalier had more than 8 points.
Golden State is coached by Steve Kerr. Kerr won the NBA coach of the year award despite missing almost half the season recovering from back surgery. The Warriors set an NBA record for wins in the regular season with a 73-9 record. They won the Pacific Division by 20 games over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Warriors beat the Houston Rockets in five games in the first round. The Warriors then beat the Portland Trail Blazers in five games in the second round. Two time MVP Stephen Curry suffered knee and ankle injuries in the first round against the Rockets and missed six games in the playoffs. He returned for the last two games against the Blazers and has played ever since. The Warriors came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in seven games in the Western conference Finals. Golden State is the defending NBA Champion. Golden State is 58-41-2 ATS and the total is 52-48-1.
Cleveland is coached by Tyronn Lue, who replaced David Blatt midway though the season. The Cavaliers are the first team in NBA history to make the NBA Finals with two different rookie head coaches in two straight seasons. Cleveland went 57-25 and won the Central Division by 12 games over the Indiana Pacers. Cleveland was the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference and breezed into the Conference Finals by sweeping the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks. The Cavaliers then beat the Toronto Raptors in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Cavaliers are 46-49-3 ATS and the total is 48-50 this season.
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Golden State is outscoring teams 111-105 in the playoffs. The Warriors are shooting 46.4% from the field and 40.3% from three point range. Golden State makes 73.4% of their free throws. Opponents are shooting 41.8% from the field and 34.2% from three point range. The Warriors average 44.6 rebounds per game and opponents average 46.6. Golden State averages 25 assists, 14 turnovers, 8.5 steals and 5.4 blocks per game. Opponents average 20.4 assists, 15.1 turnovers, 8.2 steals and 5.1 blocks per game.
Curry averages 26.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Klay Thompson averages 26.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game in the playoffs. Draymond Green averages 15.1 points, 9.8 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.6 steals and 2.1 blocks per game. Shaun Livingston, Harrison Barnes, Andre Igoudala, Marreese Speights, Leandro Barbosa, Andrew Bogut and Ian Clark will also get minutes in the rotation. Kevon Looney is out for the season with a hip injury.
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Cleveland is outscoring teams 107-94 during the playoffs. The Cavaliers are shooting 47.5% from the field including 43.4% from three point range. The Cavaliers make 72.5% of their free throws. Opponents are shooting 45.1% from the field and 34% from three point range. Cleveland averages 43 rebounds per game and opponents average 37.1 per game. The Cavaliers average 22.9 assists, 11.6 turnovers, 7 steals and 3.6 blocks per game. Opponents average 22.9 assists, 12.4 turnovers, 6.1 steals and 3.9 blocks per game.
LeBron James averages 24.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, 7 assists and 2.21 steals per game in the playoffs. James is playing in his sixth straight NBA Finals something that hasn’t been done since the 1960’s era Celtics. Kyrie Irving averages 24.3 points, 2.5 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Kevin Love averages 17.3 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. J.R. Smith averages 12 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Channing Frye averages 8.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. Richard Jefferson, Tristan Thompson, Matthew Dellevadova, and Iman Shumpert will also get minutes in the rotation.
Golden State is 5-0 ATS in NBA Finals games, against teams with winning records and overall, 4-0 after a win and after a cover, 4-1 against Central Division teams, 6-2 after a double digit win, 25-10-1 in Wednesday games, 34-15-2 on two days rest, and 11-5 after the opponent allows 100 points or more. The Warriors are 6-1 ATS in the last 7 games against the Cavaliers and 7-3 ATS in Cleveland. The favorite is 5-2 ATS in this series recently.
Cleveland is 6-0 ATS at home, 5-0 against teams with winning road records, 7-3 after the opponent scores 100 points or more, 16-34-1 after a double digit loss, 5-12 on two days rest, 1-5 against Western Conference teams, and 0-5 in NBA Finals games. The under is 9-3-1 in this series recently.
Earlier in the playoffs, Cleveland made 25 threes against the Atlanta Hawks. Some people were saying they were playing the Warriors style of basketball better than Golden State. Well, that obviously was a little premature. Cleveland can’t beat the Warriors at their own game and the Cavs must go big if they want to be successful. Oklahoma City had success against Golden State when they were up 3-1 against the Warriors. however, the Thunder have much more athletic bigs than Cleveland. LeBron James must take over the game. I think this will be a much closer game, and I like the Cavs to win and get back in the series.
