The Golden State Warriors are the favorites of people betting on basketball to win game 2 of the NBA championship series on Sunday at the Oracle Arena, per SBG Global sportsbook:
Cavaliers +6½ (-110) 207 (-110) +225
Warriors -6½ (-110) 207 (-110) -265
The Warriors won the first game and took a 1-0 lead in the series, and while they were expected to do so, it’s not so much what they did but how they did it that matters. The Cleveland Cavaliers did their homework and clipped Stephen Curry’s and Klay Thompson’s wings. Keeping those two grounded should have sufficed to bring the rest of the team down as well. Theoretically speaking. After all, in the regular season series between Golden State Warriors and Cleveland – which the former won 2-0, same as last year – Curry scored 19 at home and 35 at the Quicken Loans Arena (including 7 three-pointers).
However, they made one mistake and that was forgetting about Shaun Livingstone and Andre Iguodala. Livingstone scored 16 points and Iguodala 20 in the first and second games – respectively – of that aforementioned regular season series. As fate would have it, both picked up the slack for Curry and Thompson and help the Warriors reserve outscore the Cavs’ reserve 45-10 in game 1 of the Finals. With such a well-rounded team as coach Steve Kerr has at his disposal, it is no wonder that GS is the favorite of fans betting on basketball. Make no mistake, though; as good as Golden State’s bench was, is, has been, and probably will be, they are the reserves and not the starters for a reason.
Which leads us back to Curry and Thompson. We can safely chalk up last night’s underperformance to the odd off night – and it is certainly an odd night when Draymond Green of all people is the one to deliver as expected. They will most likely be back in form for game 2 – and they better be; they can’t expect the bench to carry them all the time as they did in game 1. The Splash Brothers are by nature leaders and not followers; they are also very competitive players as well as perfectionists, and as such will be aiming to make up for their lackluster showing. If that’s the case, the Cavs better bring umbrellas because it’s going to start raining three’s up in there.
All that is left to say is that people betting on basketball – whether on the favorites Warriors or the underdogs Cavaliers – can just go ahead and place a wager right here at SBG Global sportsbook, and then just kick back and relax and enjoy game 2 on Sunday.