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Warriors go for sweep over Cavs on Friday
By: Sam Chase - StatFox
Published: 6/9/2017  at  10:59:00 AM
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GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (82-15)

at CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (63-35)

Tip-off: Friday, 9:00 p.m. ET
Line: Golden State -6, Total: 228

The Warriors look to complete a dominant 16-0 playoff run on Friday night.

If this year’s NBA Finals ends in a sweep, we’ll now be able to say that we got at least one good game out of it. After the Golden State Warriors stomped the Cleveland Cavaliers twice at home to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the series, most were just hoping that the Cavs could be competitive in Quicken Loans Arena. And while they couldn’t scratch out a win in Game 3, the Cavs at least put on a show, holding a lead late before ultimately falling 118-113 to Golden State. The Warriors covered the spread of -3, making them 3-0 ATS in this series in addition to 3-0 SU. The two teams combined to go Over the total of 226.5 by 4.5 points, meaning two of three games in this series have now gone Over the total. The series remains in Cleveland for Game 4 on Friday night, when the Cavaliers will look to avoid being the first victim of an NBA Finals sweep since they themselves dropped four straight to the Spurs 10 years ago. Over the last five seasons, underdogs that have allowed 105 points in three straight games (CLE) are 67-29 ATS against opponents coming off a win of six points or fewer. Since 1996, games involving a road team outscoring their opponents by 9+ games on the season (GSW) and a team coming off a game where the combined score reached 215 or higher are 57-28 Under against the total. Neither team has a player listed on the injury report for Game 4.

It’s very difficult to watch this Warriors team and not wonder if you’re watching the best team in the history of basketball, especially when PG Stephen Curry (28.6 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 6.3 APG, 1.9 SPG; all player stats are for playoffs) and SF Kevin Durant (27.2 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 4.2 APG, 1.4 BPG) are both firing all cylinders. That wasn’t the case often throughout the Warriors’ (dominant) regular season, but it certainly has been in this Finals. Durant’s addition to this team has made them near-unguardable, and he’s been lights-out in this series. He has scored over 30 points in all three games, with a dagger three-pointer in Game 3 giving his team the lead late and putting him up to 31 points for the night. He also had nine rebounds and is averaging over 10 per game for the series. He has also shot over 50% from the field in each game. Curry has been pretty much just as hot—he had 26 points, 13 rebounds(!), six assists and two steals in Game 3. He had a triple-double in Game 2, the first of his postseason career. One difference for the Dubs in G3 was the thrilling outing they got from SG Klay Thompson (15.4 PPG, 3.9 RPG), who dropped 30 (16 in the first quarter) after having been quiet for much of these playoffs. He was also good in Game 2 with 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting. PF Draymond Green (13.1 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 6.7 APG, 1.8 SPG, 1.8 BPG) has picked up five fouls in each of the last two games.

To challenge a Warriors team that plays fast-paced basketball better than any team in recent memory (at least), many assumed the Cavaliers would counter with a grinding style of play reminiscent of the Timofey Mozgov, Matthew Dellavedova team that dragged the Warriors to six games in the Finals two seasons ago. The Cavs have completely subverted those expectations, choosing to play at their preferred up-tempo pace, a pace at which they play incredibly well—just not as well as Golden State. Naturally, SF LeBron James (32.4 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 7.6 APG, 2.0 SPG, 1.4 BPG) has been a force of nature in this series. In Game 3, he went off for 39 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. Unfortunately, Cleveland seems lost without him on the floor. He played 46 minutes and was +7 on the night, and his team lost by five. When he couldn’t get up to challenge Durant’s three in the game’s final minute, it was clear he was exhausted. For most of the night, PG Kyrie Irving (25.0 PPG, 5.3 APG, 1.2 SPG) was just as good, scoring 38 on the evening and keeping Cleveland in the game with brilliant solo scoring runs. He played 44 minutes, though, and his end-of-game shot selection was quite poor. PF Kevin Love (17.1 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 1.1 SPG) mostly played well, grabbing 13 rebounds and six steals, but he shot a brutal 1-of-9 from the floor en route to nine points. SG J.R. Smith (6.6 PPG) finally showed up for the series, scoring 16 points on 10 shots.


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