NBA Finals 2016: Warriors vs. Cavaliers Game 6 Odds, Prop Bets and Predictions
The Cleveland Cavaliers may have been underdogs coming into the 2016 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. But as the home team in Game 6, they have a fine chance to force a Game 7 if a crowd aching for a sports franchise to call champion can help boost them to a win.
The Cavs managed to take Game 5 of this series with a 112-97 win in Oakland to keep their championship hopes alive, but the Warriors were not at full strength in that contest.
Star power forward Draymond Green was out serving a one-game suspension for a flagrant-1 foul picked up in Game 4, which triggered an automatic suspension due to an accumulation of flagrant foul violations during this postseason.
Green will be back in action on Thursday night, with coverage starting at 9 p.m. ET on ABC from Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
Odds, Prop Bet Updates and Predictions for Game 6
According to Odds Shark, the Cavaliers (-2) are slight favorites over the Warriors for Game 6. The over-under is set at 207 points, a combined total that, for the record, the two teams have topped twice in five series games to this point.
The series has seen more than its fair share of blowouts, with the losing team often failing to generate much in the way of consistency on offense. But the pressure of a Game 6 might push these teams over the current betting threshold.
The Cavaliers scored 120 points and 97 points in their two previous home games of this series, and the Warriors are going to be pushing as hard as possible to capture a title, or at the very least avoid an embarrassment like the one they suffered in Game 3. Expect these two teams to go over 207.
Odds Shark's Stephen Campbell had the full breakdown of prop bets before the series began. The prop bet asking where this series would be decided, Oakland (-150) or Cleveland (+120), is obviously coming down to the wire.
Bettors who double as fans and felt that their favorite team would clinch the series at home are now in an odd spot, as the Warriors would need to lose to push the action back to Oracle Arena.
Stephen Curry (-125) had the best odds for Finals MVP coming into this series, hardly a surprise considering the talismanic sharpshooter is the best player on a team that won a record 73 regular-season contests. He hasn't had much of an MVP-worthy series, though, save for a 38-point outburst in Game 4.
His shooting percentages, 42.4 percent from the field and 41.5 percent from three, don't match up to what he did in the regular season. Curry also has just 23 assists compared to 22 turnovers through five games. A monstrous scoring total in a victorious Game 6 might clinch the MVP trophy for him almost by default, as no one else on the team has been a flashpoint in this series.
Klay Thompson (+500) started off slow like Curry, and Green's (+850) suspension likely takes him out of the running, though if the Warriors win in seven games and Green dominates, one could make a case for him. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is expecting big things from him in his return.
"His intensity, his passion and his versatility, it's all critical for us, and hopefully he comes in tonight and doesn't feel like he has to do anything heroic. Just come out and play his game," he said, per the Mercury News' Carl Steward.
LeBron James (+200) was second in the pre-series MVP odds and should win it if Cleveland pulls it off in seven games. James hasn't always been at his best in these finals, but he's at least stuffing the box score, averaging 28 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists per game. Kyrie Irving (+900) might be an even better bet if he keeps up the scoring. Irving has put up 105 total points in the last three games.
In fact, you might want to start checking the updated lines on those Cavaliers, as a Game 6 win looks well within their reach. The home-court advantage should be as strong as ever, and as The Ringer's Danny Chau notes, getting rid of James is as difficult a task as any in the NBA:
"LeBron James has scored 518 points in the 16 postseason games when he’s faced elimination, nine more points than the Warriors have as a team in the first five games of these Finals. He has the highest scoring average in elimination games of anyone who has played in at least five. Look, if anyone could convince you that “game” and “seven” are “two of the best words ever,” it’s LeBron.
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The return of Green will prevent James from achieving the same level of brilliance he reached in Game 5, but with Irving cooking, Tristan Thompson working hard on the boards and a full-throated crowd giving all the support they can muster, the Cavs should be able to scratch out a win in a thriller.
Prediction: Cleveland Cavaliers 110, Golden State Warriors 106
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