NBA Finals Odds: Cavs Home Underdogs To Warriors In Game 4 Despite Series Lead

The Cleveland Cavaliers will be aiming to take a commanding 3-1 series lead over Golden State when they take the floor against the Warriors in Game 4 of the NBA Finals as 2 1/2-point home underdogs at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.

The Cavs grabbed a 2-1 series lead Tuesday night with a hard-fought 96-91 victory, picking up the outright win as two-point underdogs and extending their straight-up home winning streak to five games, 3-2 against the spread.

It looked as if Cleveland would run away with Game 3 after going on a 12-0 run in the third quarter to build a 20-point lead.

The Warriors, though, stormed back to come within one point of the Cavs midway through the fourth quarter, but with LeBron James leading the Cleveland attack with 40 points and 12 rebounds, and Matthew Dellavedova stepping up with an eye-opening 20 points and stifling defensive play, Golden State’s rally fell short.

Golden State now enters Thursday night’s Warriors vs. Cavaliers betting matchup at Quicken Loans Arena facing a 2-1 deficit for the second time in as many series. The Warriors are also just 3-3 straight up in their last six road contests and 3-5 against the spread in their last eight, according to the OddsShark NBA Database.

James’ performance in Game 3 lifted his total to 123 points over the first three games of the series, an NBA Finals record.

The two-time NBA Finals MVP has shown leadership in lifting the play of the Cavaliers’ bench in the absence of injured stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. In addition to Dellavedova, who has been a thorn in Stephen Curry’s side throughout the series, J.R. Smith has also risen to the occasion, averaging just under 15 points in his last seven games.

The Cavs’ gritty performance has paid dividends on the betting odds, with Cleveland now perched as the -115 favorite to win its first-ever NBA title at the sportsbooks.

Golden State opened the series as strong -190 favorites to win its first NBA championship since 1975, according to the NBA Finals Historical Series Odds, but heads into Game 4 with diminished series betting odds of -105.

Thumbnail photo via Bob Donnan/USA TODAY Sports Images