The Cleveland Cavaliers and their top-ranked offense visit Golden State to play the Warriors and their first-ranked defense in Game of the NBA Finals. The game gets underway at 8:00 pm ET on Sunday, Jun. 5 and will air on ABC and C+D.
The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 104-89 on Thursday. Shaun Livingston was the team’s leading scorer with 20 points on 8-for-10 shooting.
This showdown pits one of the league’s top offenses against one of its elite defenses, as Golden State currently ranks first in the NBA in offensive efficiency and Cleveland is second in defensive efficiency. Also, the Cavaliers’s third-ranked offense (offensive efficiency of 109.9) will face off against the first-ranked defense of the Warriors (defensive efficiency of 101.4).
The Warriors look to build on their records of 86-14 Straight Up (SU) and 55-42-3 Against The Spread (ATS). They have a record of 86-14 SU and 55-42-3 ATS versus the Eastern Conference. Few teams in the league have a higher assist-to-turnover ratio than Golden State, which ranks second at 1.94. Golden State’s defense has been on fire lately, allowing an average of 95.1 points per game, well under their season average of 104.0. Golden State is the league’s top scoring team off turnovers with an average of 17.4 points per game.
On the other side, the Cavaliers have a record of 46-49-2 ATS and 69-28 SU. In Western Conference games, Cleveland has gone 69-28 SU and 46-49-2 ATS. The Cavaliers rarely make costly errors handling the ball. They have the fifth-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the league at 1.80. Cleveland’s defense has allowed an average of 108.5 points per game during the last 10 games, higher than their season average of 97.8.
With the Warriors’ last win against Cleveland, their SU record is now 7-3 over the Cavaliers in the last 10 games. Additionally, the Warriors lead the matchup ATS with a record of 6-4.
Predictions: SU Winner – GS
Notes
“Golden State is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games “.
“Golden State is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games “.
“The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Golden State’s last 5 games “.
“Golden State is 11-2 ATS in its last 13 games at home”.
“Golden State is 12-1 SU in its last 13 games at home”.
“The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Golden State’s last 5 games at home”.
“Golden State is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Cleveland”.
“Golden State is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Cleveland”.
“The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Golden State’s last 12 games when playing Cleveland”.
“Golden State is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Cleveland”.
Cleveland has allowed an average of 97.8 points per game this season. Golden State averages 114.1 points per game, placing the team at the top of the NBA in scoring.
Cleveland allows 98.4 points on the road this season. Topping the league in home scoring, Golden State puts up 115.2 points on its own court.
In games where they allow fewer than 100 points, the Golden State Warriors are a formidable 34-2. In games where they fail to hit triple digits, the Cleveland Cavaliers have a poor record of 12-19.
The Warriors have a 52-12 record when they allow at least 100 points. The Cavaliers have also performed well when they reach the century mark with a record of 57-9 in such games.
The Warriors have the top-ranked offense this season, averaging 112.4 points per 100 possessions. The Cavaliers have one of the best defenses, allowing 103.0 points in the same number of possessions (ranked second).
On average, Golden State has 101.5 possessions per game and scores 1.124 points on each possession. Cleveland has both fewer possessions (95.1) and scores fewer points during those possessions (1.099).
Cleveland has an average effective field goal percentage of 52.9%, ranked second in the league. Golden State is a solid 11-5 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
The Golden State Warriors average 31.0 three point attempts per game, and the Cleveland Cavaliers attempt 30.0 per game. When going for at least 25 three pointers in a game this season, both teams have winning records; Golden State is 77-13 and Cleveland is 51-22.
Golden State, the fifth-ranked team in terms of blocking, makes an average of 5.9 blocks per game. Cleveland ranks lower at 27th with 3.8.
The Golden State Warriors rank 20th in offensive rebounding, while the Cleveland Cavaliers rank 11th in defensive rebounding.
The Golden State Warriors rank ninth in steals, with an average of 8.4 per game. When the Cleveland Cavaliers allow at least 8 steals, they have a winning 31-11 record.
