As the NBA Playoff Finals in the Eastern Conference and the Game 3 to begin with the No. 1 seed Hawks of Atlanta (60-22, 1st Southwest) playing the No. 2 seed Cavaliers of Cleveland (53-29, 1st Central) on Sunday the 24th of May 2015 at 6:40 PM ET at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio and seen on TNT TV.
With the Cavaliers leading the 7 Game Series 2-0, the early Vegas odds have the Cavaliers of Cleveland favored on the Point Spread at -8 ½ with the Total 190 and -440 on the Money Line, and the comeback on the Hawks of Atlanta is +8 ½ on the Point Spread and +350 on the Money Line.
In the 2nd Game of the Series LeBron scored some 30 points as Cleveland took the lead in the Finals for the Eastern Conference even without their other injured star K. Irving due to injury. Thus the Cavaliers beat the Hawks 94-82 and now return to play at home after beating Atlanta 2 times on their home court.
Now this is the 14 time in Lebron’s career that he has begun a playoff series leading 2-0, and when he’s gotten to 2-0 he has not lost a series in the NBA. Considering that it does not look good for the Hawks of Atlanta as they move into this 3rd and 4th game playing on the home court of the Cavaliers of Cleveland at their Quicken Loans Arena.
That loss of Friday night was the 1st time Atlanta had lost back-to back games this season at home, and it happened with a very convincing win as LeBron playing with Irving on the sideline was just a rebound short of another triple/double as LeBron had 9 rebounds, 11 assists and scored 30 points in that 2nd game of the 7 game series. In the beginning of the 2nd Game LeBron managed to score some 7 of the teams 1st 9 points in the game, as the Cavaliers offense that took a muscling approach turned out to be a good maneuver early and late in the game, especially when the Hawks tried to guard LeBron with K. Bazemore as it looked like a park flamingo guarding a rhino from the zoo.
Apart from LeBron the role players for the Cavaliers came through also in game 2 as T. Thompson has a big game getting some 16 rebounds, and I. Shumpert had 4 3-pointers and a total of 16 points in the game.
The Cavaliers have managed to put it all together at the right time as they beat the best team in the Eastern Conference even as 2 of the best players were not in the game. If Cleveland keep up their same tempo in Game 3 they could be just 1 game away from the NBA Finals which would be a great big step forward for Cleveland.
For the Hawks of Atlanta they are in the same bad bind that all other teams that played teams that included LeBron in postseason play. The major problem is they don’t have anyone that can successfully guard against LeBron. The Hawks Carroll does his best and no one else on the team showed any ability to shut LeBron down. If from here forward they can’t find someone or something to slow down LeBron the Hawks have no chance of winning. Thus, the energy in this game 3 needs more energy, more aggressiveness on defenses, and more sharing of the ball and making assists on offense, and as always try to control the rebounds. If they do not win this game 3, it’s basically over for the No. 1 seed Hawks of Atlanta.
So if you Bet on NBA at an Offshore sportsbook, the media experts say it sure looks like LeBron and the Cavaliers will win the 3rd Game and be just 1 win away from playing for the 2015 NBA Championship.