The NBA Finals are almost upon us, with the tip off Friday June 5th (AEDT) as the Golden State Warriors face off against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The match up sees the top seeded Warriors have home court advantage as they look to win their first finals series since 1975 whilst the Cavaliers look to give Cleveland their first major trophy. Read on and check out our 2015 NBA Finals betting tips.
Road to the Finals
The trip to the finals for both teams was impressive, as they had to overcome their own obstacles.
The Warriors came through the tough Western Conference and despite sweeping the Pelicans in the opening round of the playoffs, it was a battle for the Warriors. They were pushed to the fourth quarter in every match, which tested the ability of the league MVP Stephen Curry and his teammates to close out matches together. They managed to overcome a deficit of 20 points heading into the fourth quarter and this experience for the Warriors would be beneficial for them in the rounds against the Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets.
The Grizzlies forced the Warriors to adjust as they had their backs against the wall down 2-1 in the series. They managed to create solutions and show their superiority, as they would close out the Grizzlies winning the next three games.
The Warriors then faced the Rockets who had played a gruelling seven-game series against the Clippers. They were clearly drained after having minimal rest and playing at a high level for three straight games to advance to the Conference Finals. The Warriors were able to close the series out in five despite losing Curry and Thompson to concussions in games four and five.
The Cavaliers have overcome a lot this season. Form slumps and constant scrutiny had followed Cleveland but when Kevin Love was ruled out for the remainder of the playoffs, many experts predicted the Cavs season was over. However they proved the doubters wrong, before it then got a whole lot worse as point guard Kryie Irving was diagnosed with tendinitis in the knees, leaving the “big 3” in Cleveland as the big one with Lebron James left to run in the show. A pretty good guy to leave in control, as he came out and sent a clear message in the series against the top seeded Hawks – try and stop me – as James came close to averaging a triple double across the four games as the Cavs swept their way to the Finals.
Match Up
The NBA Finals is sure to be exciting as these two teams have the similar depth and exciting players to make this series is one of the best Finals of all times. The Cavaliers have been able to restrict the three point shooting of their opponents throughout the playoffs as their opponents are shooting at less than 25% from beyond the arc. This battle will be vital to determine the winner of each match. If the Cavs can restrict the three point shooting of the Warriors than they will be a big chance, similarly, if the Warriors are able to get off their shots than they will make the Cavs pay.
The Warriors will want to play a face paced, high tempo game whilst the Cavs will try to slow down the match and put Lebron James in good situations to drive to the basket and make the bucket or kick it to an open team mate for the shot. Coaches have found it practically impossible to defend against as the big bodied James who has the power and strength of a big man but the handle, dribble and pass of a point guard.
The series will be close but James has wanted this opportunity for a long time, to fulfil the promise he made all those years ago to Cleveland – to bring them home a title. The desire and drive is within James at the moment and he is playing at such a high level. However, the Warriors have the depth to try different ways to defend James and the finals series last year shows us that James can be stopped and slowed down. The loss of Love and the injury cloud surrounding Irving will catch up with Cleveland as the Warriors will become NBA Champions.
TIP: Golden State Warriors 4-3 @ $4.80 with Ladbrokes
Finals MVP
Last year Kawhi Leonard was awarded the Finals MVP and not many people predicted this to happen prior to the series starting. However, the defence he put on Lebron James whilst still being able to produce on the offensive end made him the deserved recipient of the award. This leads me to believe that whilst Curry is the favourite to earn the Finals MVP at ($1.44) he is too short to back and it is highly likely to fall in the hands of either Draymond Green or Klay Thompson who will be defending James but can definitely contribute on the offensive end.
Green will be on James the majority of the time and has proven throughout the playoffs to be a game changer and Thompson plays second fiddle to Curry but can take over the game himself – scored 37 points in one quarter earlier this season.
TIP: Draymond Green or Thompson @ $16.50 each with Sportsbet
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Take note: Any of the tips in this article are simply the author’s opinion, so bet at your own risk and always gamble responsibly. Also be sure to check out the Before You Bet Twitter Page for all our thoughts in the lead up to bets! Happy punting!
