NBA Finals Game 2 Prediction: Cleveland Cavaliers vs Golden State Warriors, 6–3–2018
Free NBA Spread Pick by Vincent King of King Sports Pick
Cleveland Cavaliers (62–39) at Golden State Warriors (71–29)
Sunday, June 3rd, 8:00 PM EST
Line: Warriors -11.5, O/U 215.5
The Warriors pulled out an overtime victory vs the Cavaliers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night, 124–114. LeBron James had another monster performance dropping 51 points, 8 assists and 8 rebounds but it wasn’t enough to overcome some bad decisions and bad calls. After failing to cover as -12 points home favorites in Game 1, Golden State is favored by -11.5 points for Game 2 on Sunday and the Total went Over 217.
Cleveland will need to play with a sense of urgency in Game 2 to avoid going down 0–2 to the best team in basketball. LeBron is averaging 38 PPG over the last seven games but we can’t expect him to score 50+ points in each game vs the Warriors. Kevin Love, J.R. Smith, and George Hill will all need to find a way to contribute more offensively if the Cavaliers expect to pull out a Game 2 victory. The good news, for bettors backing Cleveland, the Cavaliers covered the +12 point spread which is their third straight cover.
Golden State hopes to go up 2–0 with a win on Sunday night, which wasn’t a big enough lead over the Cavaliers in 2016. The Warriors were up 2–0 in 2016 and squandered the series, losing in seven games to Cleveland. However, this is a much-improved Warriors team and not as good of a Cavaliers team. The Warriors are (38–13 SU) at home this season but they are 21–29–1 ATS at home this season, mostly due to large point spreads. Golden State is 8–16 ATS this season when favored by -11 to -13.5 points. But they are 7–2 ATS as -10 to -10.5 point favorites this season. Keep that in mind if this line moves.
Warriors are 4–1 ATS in their last 5 games following an ATS loss
Cavaliers are 5–1 ATS in their last 6 games overall
Cavaliers are 5–1 ATS in their last 6 vs. Western Conference
Warriors are 4–10 ATS in their last 14 games playing on 2 days rest
I consider this game pretty close to a must-win for the Cavaliers. Sure, they have come back from a 2–0 deficit vs Boston and against this Warriors team in the 2016 NBA Finals. NBA teams that go up 2–0 in a best-of-seven round are 281–19 in the series all-time — it’s essentially a lock. If the LeBron James can get some help from his teammates in Game 2, the Cavaliers have a chance to win this game SU. I’ll take the +11.5 points and back LeBron to have another monster performance and keep this game close.
Cavaliers vs Warriors Game 2 Pick: Cavaliers +11.5
