Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers: Game 3 Odds, Betting Stats

Despite playing without injured point guard Kyrie Irving, the Cleveland Cavaliers managed to even the 2015 NBA Finals with a 95-93 overtime victory against the Golden State Warriors in Game 2 as bigger underdogs than they were in Game 1.

While the Cavaliers opened as one-point home favorites for Game 3 on Tuesday at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark, they have since become one-point underdogs against the Warriors, with bettors seemingly believing Golden State will turn in its best performance yet on the road.

Though the first two games, Cleveland star LeBron James has already made a strong case to be named NBA Finals MVP regardless of whether or not his team earns the Larry O’Brien Trophy in the end.

James missed a potential game-winning shot at the end of regulation for the second straight time as the NBA Finals went to overtime again, the first time the league’s championship series has ever gone to an extra session twice in the first two games.

However, that is about all James did wrong in Game 2, finishing with a game-high 39 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists for his fifth career triple-double in the NBA Finals.

James has now won Game 2 in his last four NBA Finals appearances but has proceeded to lose Game 3 in each of the past two years following the victory.

The Warriors struggled offensively in Game 2, especially reigning NBA MVP Stephen Curry, who made only five of 23 shots from the field, going a dismal 2-of-15 from three-point range. The Cavs got an outstanding defensive performance on Curry from Irving’s replacement, Matthew Dellavedova.

Still, Golden State rallied back from an 11-point deficit in the final three minutes of regulation to tie Game 2 of the betting matchup and force overtime thanks to Klay Thompson, who finished with a team-high 34 points on 14-of-28 shooting.

Cleveland has gone just 3-4 against the spread at home in the playoffs, with the over cashing in for totals bettors in four straight games at Quicken Loans Arena, according to the Odds Shark NBA Database.

The Warriors would definitely welcome a faster pace and have seen two of their last three road games go to overtime as well this postseason.

Golden State has gone 3-1 straight up and ATS in its past four away from home and lost consecutive games once previously in the playoffs against the Memphis Grizzlies in the second round, falling behind 2-1 in that series before winning and covering three in a row to advance to the Western Conference Finals.