NBA Finals 2015: Cavs vs. Warriors Game 5 Vegas Odds, Prop Bets and Predictions

With Game 5 of the 2015 NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors on the horizon, it's do-or-die time for both teams. 

Forget that the series rests tied at 2-2. It helps add to the suspense, sure, but the two teams create plenty on their own, with Golden State throwing in some creative wrinkles to get an edge and hobbled Cleveland seeming to slow down at the worst possible time.

As is the case with any major event, Las Vegas acts as the trendsetter as far as expectations go, although one side will like how the oddsmakers feel much, much more than the other.

Game 5 Info

When: Sunday, June 14

Time: 8 p.m. ET

Where: Oracle Arena in Oakland, California

TV: ABC

Live Stream: Watch ESPN

It's plain and simple: Oddsmakers love the Warriors returning to Oracle Arena in Oakland.

At Odds Shark, Golden State gets the nod in major fashion (-8.5), with an over/under line of 195.5 to boot, a pair of odds bettors may not have such a hard time figuring out once digesting everything surrounding the contest.

In short, there's much more at work with these lines than simple locale.

Look at Thursday's Game 4, a 103-82 Warriors rout on the road in a hostile environment, where Stephen Curry poured in 22 points and his team shot 46.8 percent from the floor and 40 percent from deep while turning the ball over just seven times.

Ronald Martinez/Associated Press

On the Cleveland side, well, where to start? LeBron James cut his head on a camera and was 100 percent out of gas by the start of the final frame. He finished with 20 points on a 7-of-22 mark, but a surprising 28 points from Timofey Mozgov didn't matter—Matthew Dellavedova looked gassed and scored 10, Iman Shumpert seemed lost on defense and no player off the bench scored more than four points.

Perhaps worst of all, Curry, Klay Thompson and a shocking Andre Iguodala (who matched Curry with 22 points of his own) just imposed their will, upping the tempo and running the gassed Cavaliers into the hard court, an approach that's doubtful to change for the remainder of the series. 

"We played desperate out there, man," Thompson said, per the Associated Press (via ESPN.com). "We played real hungry. It was just awesome to come out here and impose our will on both sides of the ball and play our brand of basketball. That's what's been winning us games all year."

As FiveThirtyEight illustrates, the Cavaliers will need to hurry to turn things around, as even a so-so shooting night continues to produce wins for the sharpshooting Warriors:

"

Your only shot at beating the Warriors is if their shooting goes ice-cold. http://t.co/kRRsvP9km3 pic.twitter.com/xwRqLPqFd3

— FiveThirtyEight (@FiveThirtyEight) June 13, 2015"

Things shift back to Golden State for a game, and it's not hard to see why the home side is a huge favorite. Warriors coach Steve Kerr shifted to a smaller lineup Thursday and ran the Cavaliers off the court, and there doesn't seem to be much James and Co. can do about it, not with Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving out of the picture and suffering through a coast-to-coast schedule with little rest time between games. 

Even worse, Curry continues to appear on his way out of a slump. He turned it on near the end of Game 3 to make it closer than it should have been, then went 4-of-7 from deep in the rout. Going back home figures to push things into an even more efficient area, so it's obvious why he's still the NBA Finals MVP favorite at Odds Shark, sitting at 5-8 odds.

With the way the Warriors are shooting going into a home game, the over seems to be an easy choice, especially if one concurs that James will help to boost the point total with a major performance as well due to his understanding of his team's dangerous situation.

The outcome, though, seems obvious. The onus of adjustments falls on the Cavaliers, with the Warriors doing so last time out. On the road, tired and without much in the way of depth anymore, though, it's hard to know what coach David Blatt can scheme up on short notice to provide James with some relief.

Look for the Warriors to reinforce Las Vegas' strong feelings on the matter. James and Co. will come out strong but fizzle out in the second half as Kerr's small-ball approach and efficient shooting help the Warriors run roughshod over the final two frames, with Curry rounding back into elite form to lead all scorers.

Prediction: Golden State 111, Cleveland 98

All stats and info via ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.