NBA FINALS 2018

NBA FINALS 2018 GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS-CLEVELAND CAVALIERS GAME 3 PREVIEW



THE Finals so far:

THE NBA Finals so far have been full of controversy, referees being horrible, but the allstars have all shown up and balled out so far which made it quite exciting. Although the Warriors lead the series 2-0, we still can’t complete count out the Cavs although in Game 2 they looked nowhere near as good as in Game 1, maybe they were simply demoralised from Game 1 actions? We don’t know. The Cavs as mentioned in the Game 2 preview, had a chance to steal Game 1, but Hill missed a free throw and JR Smith made a complete blunder and the Cavs just couldn’t get the stops when they took the lead which eventually led to GSW exploding in the Overtime. In Game 2 it was a different story, the Warriors dominated from the start, and although the Cavs threatened to cut the lead completely they never seemed to do so and Steph Curry just went off in the 4th quarters making 5/5 threes and just making absolutely ridiculous shots which put the Cavs away, Kevin Durant also had a great bounce back game and Klay Thompson continued to stay hot and also the Warriors supporting cast, McGee and Livingston were huge shooting 100% combined 10/10. As for the Cavs, LeBron had a 29/9/13 game, but it didn’t seem like it was that great which just proves his greatness, other than that K.Love and George Hill showed up, JR Smith struggled again and nobody else did much of anything. Game 2 Stats: Curry 33/7/8 and a finals record breaking 9 threes, KD 26/9/7, Thompson 20 pts, LeBron 29/9/13, Love 22/10. Curry is currently the leading candidate for finals MVP averaging 31/8/6 on 45/50/100 shooting splits which is absolutely ridiculous. Warriors won Game 1 124-114 and Game 2 122-103. Everything now shifts to Cleveland with the Warriors up 2-0 looking to sweep.

Keys to winning the game 3

Cleveland Cavaliers: The Cavs are now in a must win mode. If the Cavs lose it’s over. The keys for the Cavs is to get their supporting cast going, players like JR Smith, Korver, Clarkson have to show up and make their shots, I’d even say they should play Rodney Hood and see what he can do because Clarkson has been absolutely horrible. LeBron James of course has to be aggressive tonight because if he doesn’t drop 40 then the Cavs don’t stand much of a chance but LeBron has shown that he can drop 40, especially at home as he’s done it 4 times at the Q. Kevin Love has to continue to give them offense too which he’s done greatly so far. The Cavs have to prevent players such as Livingston and McGee going 10/10 again, and of course they need to do something with Steph and Klay because they are simply unconscious from 3. To summarise LeBron needs to be aggressive, the supporting cast has to make their shots and Cavs gotta be active on defense to prevent Curry and Klay going off again, and of course they need to stop switching smalls on KD. If they do that then they may have a chance to steal one at home. The energy they get from the crowd will be huge.

Golden State Warriors: The Warriors are coming into game 3 looking to take a 3-0 lead which nobody has ever overcome and pretty much put the series to bed. To win game 3 the Warriors have to keep doing what they’ve done in Game 2 which is to keep moving the ball and stay engaged on defense. Although the Warriors still had lapses on D, they definitely showed a much better effort than in Game 1 and they’ll have to continue to do that against the Cavs who should be fully engaged with their home crowd behind them. The Warriors have to keep getting Steph and Klay shots as they’ve been on fire, and they need to expose the mismatches on KD which is what worked really well in Game 2. Furthermore if they get extra help from role players in McGee and Livingston then it’s pretty much going to be unlikely that the Cavs can deal with the Warriors. So to sum it up, exploit the mismatches on KD, move the ball, keep Steph and Klay shooting and be engaged on defense because Bron is coming.

Prediction

I think we will see a fired up LeBron and the Cavs from the start so I would expect the Cavs to come out strong, but the superstar power that the Warriors have and the insane shooting with Steph Klay and KD should be able to keep them in the game and let them weather the early storm from the Cavaliers. From then on I’d expect the Warriors to finally grab the game and eventually take the lead in the 2nd half and not look back. The Warriors simply have too much for the Cavs, I mean Bron gave them 51 and the Warriors still won. The Cavs will make it a close game tonight, but the Warriors will eventually steal it and take a 3-0 lead. I’d expect Steph and KD to go off again and I think we’ll see something similar to a game 3 last year, but maybe not as intense. In terms of betting I’d say Warriors 3rd Quarter Spread -2.5 at 1.83 and Warriors over 110.5 points at 1.91 on WilliamHill are the best bets for the game.

Also Andre Iguodala is listed as questionable and could return tonight which could be absolutely huge for the Warriors as it’s another body to throw at LeBron and he’s pretty good at guarding Bron.