Cavs vs Warriors Game 5 Odds, Point Spread & Prediction

(Getty)

The Cleveland Cavaliers, despite being five-point underdogs, staved off elimination with a huge Game 4 win over the Golden State Warriors, but now they’ll have an even bigger hill to climb as the series heads back to the Bay Area.

Cleveland opened as “only” a 6.5-point underdog for Monday night’s Game 5, but as money has poured in on the Dubs, the line has steadily moved further in that direction. Here’s a complete look at all the betting information you need to know:

NBA Finals Game 5 Betting Info

Spread: Warriors (-9), per OddsShark.com

Moneyline: Warriors (-320); Cavaliers (+260)

Over/Under: 231

Warriors Record Against the Spread: 51-43-4

Cavaliers Record Against the Spread: 44-51-4

Prediction:

After Warriors won their first 15 games of the postseason, there was a general consensus. Even a team as good as the Cavs was going to need to be nearly perfect in order to stop Golden State’s run.

And in Game 4, that’s exactly what we saw. The Cavs shot 52.9 percent from the field. They hit an NBA Finals record 24 three-pointers at an absurd 53.3 percent clip. They had 49 points after the first 12 minutes, 86 at halftime and 137 by the time the final whistle was blown.

The Cavs finished Game 4 with an absurd offensive rating (points per 100 possessions) of 136.1. It was the Cavs’ second best performance of the season (137.5 vs. Detroit in March), and by far the Warriors’ worst defensive performance (128.1 vs. Denver in February)

The point here is that the odds of Cleveland replicating that performance are low. And with the way the Warriors offense is clicking–115.4 offensive rating, 14.3 threes per game, 30.0 assists on 42.5 field goals per game–the Cavs aren’t going to have much room for error.

It’s hard to be against LeBron James in this scenario. In his last four elimination games, he’s averaging 35.0 points (50.5 percent from the field), 11.25 rebounds and 10.0 assists, and the Cavs are 4-0 in those games. Ultimately, though, the Warriors are too deep offensively, and they should be much better defensively now that they’re back home and had the wakeup call from Game 4.

Prediction: Warriors 116, Cavs 106