The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers are on a
collision course to meet in the 2015 NBA Finals after both teams took
commanding 3-0 series leads in the conference finals. The Warriors head into
Monday's Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals against the Houston Rockets as
consensus 4.5-point road favorites while the Cavaliers host the Atlanta Hawks
on Tuesday in the Eastern Conference Finals as 8.5-point home chalk at the
Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook.
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Cleveland outlasted Atlanta 114-111 in Game 3 on Sunday,
needing overtime to win but did not cover the spread as an 8-point favorite.
Cavs star LeBron James turned in arguably his best performance of the playoffs
with a triple double of 37 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists despite playing
in a lot of pain. James was noticeably bothered by cramping issues late in the
game but not enough to cause him to miss much time. The team was already
playing without point guard Kyrie Irving for the second straight game due to a
knee injury and power forward Kevin Love, who suffered a dislocated shoulder in
the first round.
Meanwhile, Golden State is coming off its most dominant
showing of the postseason, routing the Rockets 115-80 in Game 3 on Saturday as
a 1.5-point road underdog, the only time during this playoff run that the team
has been a dog. The Warriors saw NBA MVP Stephen Curry explode for a game-high
40 points on 13-of-19 shots from the field, connecting on 7-of-9 shots from
3-point range.
Houston failed to cover the spread for the first time in the
Western Conference Finals after losing the first two games of the series on the
road by a combined five points. The Rockets turned in a dismal shooting effort
as a team, making only 34 percent from the field, with leading scorer James
Harden connecting on just 3-of-16 even though he made 10-of-11 from the
free-throw line to finish with 17 points.
No NBA team has ever rallied to win a playoff series after
losing the first three games, and it is inevitable that Curry and James will be
squaring off soon for the Larry O'Brien Trophy. Golden State remains the
favorite to win the NBA championship, and the health of Cleveland will
ultimately determine how big of an underdog LeBron & Co. will be as he
seeks his third league title in four years.
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