Thursday, June 11th, 2015

NBA Finals - Game 4

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The Golden State Warriors take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Cleveland leads the series 2-1. The opening line had the Warriors as 2.5 point favorites and the over/under is set at 193.

LeBron James is once again carrying the load for his team in his fifth straight NBA Finals series. He's got to with Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving out for the playoffs. James led his team with 40 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists, four steals and two blocks. He's also been getting help from an unlikely source in Matthew Dellavedova. Dellavedova ended the game with 20 points on 7-17 shooting and gathered five rebounds while dishing out four assists. Dellavedova's defense on Stephen Curry might actually be his most effective addition to this Cavalier team who has yet to win a title in their history. The stellar play of these two helped the Cavs go up 2-1 by a score of 96-91, holding the Warriors to under 100 points once again.

Stephen Curry led Golden State with 27 points on 10-20 shooting while going 7-13 from behind the arc. He also added six rebounds, six assists, three steals and a block. He didn't get much help from Klay Thompson who finished this one with 14 points, five rebounds, an assist and a block.

The first half ended with Cleveland leading Golden State 44-37 with James going 6-17. In the second half, the Cavs stepped on the gas behind the play of James and Dellavedova. With just under three minutes left in the third quarter, the Cavs had stretched out their lead to 20 with little hope of the Warriors making a game out of this. However, Golden State has five wins in this post season after being down double figures.

Curry led the Warriors in the fourth quarter with 17 points and got this game within one point with 2:30 left to play. This was all before Dellavedova made a circus play down the lane to throw up a bank shot while getting fouled. He would convert the three point play and put the Cavaliers up for good. The Warriors got the game within three again with just seconds to go but the Cavs hit their free throws and finished on top.

The Cavaliers are 4-1 against the spread in their last 5 games playing on 1 days rest and 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record. They are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games overall and 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games following a straight up win. The under is 5-1 in the Cavaliers last 6 vs. a team with a winning S.U. record and 4-1 in their last 5 NBA Championship games.

The Warriors are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 vs. the Eastern Conference and 2-5 ATS in their last 7 Thursday games. They are also 2-7 ATS in their last 9 vs. the NBA Central. The under is 4-0 in the Warriors last 4 games following a S.U. loss and 7-0 in their last 7 games following an ATS loss.

Head to head, the under is 5-1 in the last 6 meetings. The home team is 4-1 against the spread in the last 5 meetings and the Warriors are 2-5 ATS in the last 7 meetings.

Cleveland Cavaliers Betting Trends

Cleveland Cavaliers are 49-50-0 Against the Spread

Cleveland Cavaliers are 41-57-0 against the Over/Under

Golden State Warriors Betting Trends

Golden State Warriors are 54-42-4 Against the Spread

Golden State Warriors are 43-56-0 against the Over/Under

Injuries to Watch

Cleveland Cavaliers

12/24/14 C Anderson Varejao Achilles out for season
06/10/15 G Matthew Dellavedova Cramps probable Thursday vs. Golden State
06/09/15 F Iman Shumpert Shoulder injured last game, probable Thursday vs. Golden State
06/05/15 G Kyrie Irving Knee out for season
04/27/15 F Kevin Love Shoulder out for season

Golden State Warriors

06/10/15 F Draymond Green Back probable Thursday vs. Cleveland
05/03/15 C Ognjen Kuzmic Ankle out indefinitely

Tony's Pick: Take Golden State

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