NBA Finals 2018 Odds: Golden State Warriors Are Historic Betting Favorites Over Cleveland Cavaliers

A rematch between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2018 NBA Finals has felt inevitable all season long. The same result as last year’s matchup seems even more like a certainty.

Golden State is an enormous favorite to repeat and defeat Cleveland to win their third title in four years. The defending champions opened as -1000 favorites at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook after beating the Houston Rockets in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. Cleveland opened as a +650 underdog.

The Cavs are the biggest betting underdogs in the last 16 years, according to Sportsoddshistory.com. The Game 1 betting line favors the Warriors by 12 points, matching the point spread from Game 1 of the 2001 NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers, according to ESPN.

None of the last three meetings between Golden State and Cleveland have featured this much of a disparity, though LeBron James and the Cavs have never been favored over Golden State. The Warriors were -220 favorites in 2015 when they beat the Cavs in six games, and they had -220 odds again in 2016 before blowing a 3-1 series lead. After adding Kevin Durant, Golden State had -300 betting odds in last year’s rubber match that saw them cruise to a five-game series victory.

James wasn’t even this much of an underdog when he dragged the Cavs to the 2007 NBA Finals as a 22-year-old. Cleveland was a +360 underdog before getting swept by the San Antonio Spurs, who won their third title in five years. That’s largely considered to be the worst team that James has led to the finals.

The greatest basketball player of his generation is used to being an underdog. James has been the betting favorite in just two of his NBA Finals appearances. James and the Miami Heat lost to the Dallas Mavericks in six games in the 2011 NBA Finals as -175 favorites. Miami had -220 odds to defeat San Antonio in 2013, and they did so in seven games to win their second straight title.

When James won his first championship and faced Durant in the finals for the first time in 2012, his team was a +155 underdog. James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh failed to pull off a three-peat in 2014, losing to San Antonio in five games as +135 underdogs.

Winning the Eastern Conference for an eighth straight year, James is likely to see his career finals record drop to 3-6. Golden State has four All-Stars in the starting lineup, and James’ only All-Star teammate, Kevin Love, missed the final two games of the Eastern Conference Finals with a concussion.

Love is Cleveland’s second-leading scorer with 13.9 points per game on just 38.8 percent shooting this postseason. No one else on the Cavs is scoring in double digits.

James is averaging 34.0 points, 9.2 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game in the 2018 NBA playoffs. Durant, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are all scoring more than 20 points per game.

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