Vegas Odds Are Saying the Cavs Have Virtually No Chance vs. the Warriors
By Vik Chokshi
Once again, it looks like Las Vegas is going with the Golden State Warriors to win it all this year. The Warriors open as heavy favorites to not only win Game 1, but to repeat as NBA champions vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook manager Jeff Sherman tweeted out the opening odds for the NBA Finals last night, and it is not looking good for the Cavs. As you can see below, the Warriors opened as -1000 favorites to win the series.
NBA Finals
— Jeff Sherman (@golfodds) May 29, 2018
Game 1
Thursday, May 31, 2018
Cleveland Cavaliers 216.5
Golden St Warriors -12
Series Price:
Cavaliers +650
Warriors -1000
After a lot of initial Warriors money, it does look like the line has now finally settled at -900 per OddsShark.
After climbing as high as -1200 in the odds to win the #NBAFinals, the Warriors have settled at -900 with the Cavaliers coming back at +550 (@BovadaLV).
— Odds Shark (@OddsShark) May 29, 2018
Just for comparison, the Warriors went into last year’s Finals vs. the Cavs as favorites as well, but only in the -250/-260 range. LeBron James also had Kyrie Irving and a much better supporting cast last year, thus almost the 4x difference in the line.
The King also has never been this much of a dog in the Finals. Even in James’ first trip to the Finals in 2007, the Cavs were around a +360 underdog against the San Antonio Spurs.
The Warriors are now also a 12-point favorite for Game 1 of the series, marking that the largest spread in a Finals game since the Los Angeles Lakers played the Philadelphia 76ers in 2001.
The Game 1 line opened with the @warriors as a 12-point favorite.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 29, 2018
That would tie the largest spread in an NBA Finals game over the last 25 years (Lakers vs. 76ers in Game 1 of the 2001 Finals).
Tyronn Lue was involved in that one, too... pic.twitter.com/bjCLLUNhZV
With the way this roster is currently constructed, this will be LeBron’s greatest challenge yet. I just don’t see it happening this year, and neither does Vegas.