By Charles Jay
Well, some of the numbers don’t lie all that much, and when it comes down to the “chess game” between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors, it looks like Cleveland is getting the better of it. They would have to be, having taken a 2-1 series lead while being severely short-handed.
BetAnySports customers know that going into this series, Cleveland wanted to play the game slower, while Golden State wanted to step up the tempo. That principle was very certain. And there is absolutely no question about the fact that Cleveland has that advantage. The Cavaliers and Warriors have combined for an average of 89.7 possessions per 48 minutes, and that is a statistic the NBA uses to measure tempo, or, officially “Pace.” The slower the pace, the better it is for Cleveland. And this particular pace is lower than the slowest team in the league this season (Utah). Remember that Golden State played at the fastest pace in the league, so this is quite a comedown. That is one of the things the numbers tell us.
NBA Finals Betting Odds for Game 4
Here are some other numbers for you – the NBA betting odds on Game 4, as they have been posted by the people at BetAnySports:
Golden State Warriors -2.5
Cleveland Cavaliers +2.5
Over 193 points -110
Under 193 points -110
Golden State has not been getting a lot of offensive contribution from people up front, and I was really magnified in Game 3, as the front line of Andrew Bogut, Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes put together just four field goals between them. Of course, it was a good thing for them that Andre Iguodala came in with some spark off the bench (15 points), or else this team would have really been in trouble. The Warriors have not asserted themselves all that much in the paint, at least enough to draw fouls. They had only twelve free throws on Tuesday night, and so the amount of shots at the charity stripe, as reflected as a percentage of field goal attempts, is below 18%, and that really isn’t where coach Steve Kerr wants it to be.
BetAnySports patrons saw that Steph Curry scored only three points in the first half, then came on like gangbusters in the second 24 minutes, with 24 points. That has to carry over into Game 4 in order for Golden State to even up this series. Klay Thompson, who had 14 field goals and 34 points in Game 2, dropped to 14 points on Tuesday. It will be very interesting to see what Kerr does with David Lee, who averaged 18 points and nine rebounds last season and was the starting power forward until suffering hamstring injuries that gave the job to Green. Lee had 11 points and four rebounds in 30 minutes of action, and he can be somebody very useful off the bench.
Another number that definitely has to change for Golden State is the number of fast-break points they had in the last game (only four). Cleveland actually beat them out by one point in that department, and that just won’t do.
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