NBA Finals Game 4: Betting Preview & Trends

It’s do or die for the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night as they look to avoid getting swept by the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.

The Warriors took what looks to be an insurmountable 3-0 series lead with a 118-113 win in Game 3 on Wednesday night. Golden State was a 3.5-point road favorite and was able to cover the spread.

Kevin Durant led the Warriors with 31 points and eight rebounds and Klay Thompson chipped in with 30 points. LeBron James narrowly missed another triple double with 39 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. Kyrie Irving rebounded from a disappointing showing in Game 2 with 30 points, but it wasn’t enough to keep pace with Golden State.

Cleveland may have come back from a 3-1 deficit in last year’s Finals, but coming back from being down 3-0 is a different story. No team has ever come back from a 3-0 playoff deficit in the history of the NBA. If LeBron wants to be considered the best ever this may be his chance.

Not surprisingly after the way they’ve dominated the series and dominated their entire playoff run the Warriors are a 6.5-point road favorite for Game 4 at the Bovada Sportsbook. With the Game 3 win the Warriors remained perfect in the postseason at 15-0 straight up and improved to 11-4 against the spread. On the road in the playoffs the Warriors are perfect both SU and ATS at 7-0.

Cleveland has of course lost three in a row SU and ATS. They’re also a money-losing 1-5 ATS in their last six games. Returning home after dropping the first two games in Golden State appeared to be what the Cavaliers needed to get back into the series. However, being listed as a home underdog may have made all the difference. In their last 10 games as a home underdog Cleveland is 3-7 SU and ATS.

For totals bettors the OVER is looking pretty enticing after the Bovada Sportsbook posted a total of 229. The last two games in the series both went well OVER the posted total and both were OVER 229 with 245 points scored in Game 2 and 231 in Game 3.

In the playoffs so far the Warriors are 11-4 OVER and they’re 7-1 OVER in their last eight games. Cleveland is 11-5 OVER, which includes a 6-1 OVER record at home.