Online betting favorites Cavaliers really made quite the statement as they took the Toronto Raptors to school on game 1 of the Easter Conference Finals. The team lead by, the closest thing we’ll get to a real life Monstar, LeBron James demolished Toronto 115 to 84. The result was a lot of sad Canadians, and we’re assuming around 17,000 crying Jordan memes in Drake’s Twitter mentions. This series is going to be an uphill battle for the team from the North.
Yet, despite the offensive dominance from the Cavaliers this game failed to cover the totals on online betting and on SBG Global Sportsbook, in part thanks to Toronto’s cold offense rather than Cleveland’s relentless defense. The Raptors had a dismal second half, in which they missed 11 consecutive shots, leaving the door wide open for the Cavs to take the lead and run with it. The Cavaliers are now on a 9 game winning streak and are now looking real menacing, as they are possibly on their way to a third consecutive sweep on the series. They are definitely the “Mean Team” of this post season (yes, that’s the second Space Jam reference I dropped).
Toronto, after dispatching the combative Miami Heat in long fashion, made it to this series weary and drained after a very hard battle. That appeared to leave them as easy prey for the well-rested Cavaliers, who had extra days off after sweeping the Hawks. Kyle Lowry and company were ice cold all through out this game missing buckets that could have kept the game close in the second quarter. In the second half King James and Kyrie Irving tore down the house and made it rain on the Raptors. The game was over by the third quarter. Online betting fans who put money on the Raptors, probably changed the channel by that point.
Ever since the beginning of the post season, the Cavaliers have been the outstanding favorites to reach the Finals for the Eastern Conference. Now, they are starting to look like serious NBA Championship contenders, and they don’t seem to show any signs of stopping anytime soon. Toronto will need to play their best basketball of the entire season if they wish to at least match the Cavaliers and maybe even taking game 2 from the Cavaliers, before they move the series north of the border. However this looks like an impossible task.
The early online betting line for game 2 reads:
Raptors +12 (-110)
Cavaliers -12 (-110)
O/U: 198 (-110)
The point spread appears to be easy money, especially if the Cavaliers continue their baskets on the paint. However notice how the Over/Under is now lower than game 1 (201), this is because if Toronto continues to put up bricks, the under will be the top bet.
Our online betting pick for this game is for Cleveland to cover the spread, but we do think that the Raptors will heat up just a little bit to go for the over on Game 2. Those more adventurous bettors placing money on the Raptors, Godspeed and best of luck, but not even a whole case of “Michael’s secret stuff” will help the Raptor’s chances (that’s three Space Jam references, son!).