Elise Amendola / AP FILE
Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James celebrates after sinking a three point shot during the second half of Game 5 of the NBA basketball Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics, on Thursday, May 25, 2017, in Boston.
Sunday, June 4, 2017 | 12:01 p.m.
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We’ve entered the third season of the annual South Point-lined Play of the Day competition, effective July 1.
Starting bankrolls have reset to $10,000, with the maximum bet being to win $1,000 and the minimum wager $300. Ray Brewer won the 2015-2016 season, after Taylor Bern prevailed in 2014-2015. Bern stepped away in the middle of the 2016-2017 season with a 16-12 record and $13,317 bankroll, with Mike Grimala taking his place.
Cleveland Cavaliers plus-335 on the money line at Golden State Warriors: $299 to win $1,000
There aren’t very many times during his career that you will see Lebron James as this kind of an underdog.
Many have all but declared this series over after the first game and the odds for tonight’s contest reflect that. It’s easy to see why -- the Warriors have four Olympic medalists, two NBA MVPs and the likely defensive player of the year.
But the Cavaliers have James.
I think James has an even better game tonight (he finished game one with 28 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists) but more importantly, he will get more help. Kyrie Irving scored 24 points in game one but took 22 shots to get it and only added two assists. I expect him to eventually get back to the level of play that he showed he was capable of in the Eastern Conference Finals (and in last year’s NBA Finals).
More importantly for the Cavaliers, they need to get at least something out of their role players. In game one J.R. Smith, Tristan Thompson and Kyle Korver combined to go 1-of-10 from the field for three total points.
We’ve seen too many times in the NBA playoffs where a blowout in the first game of a series causes massive overreaction and I believe that’s the case here. A great example was only two rounds ago, when the Houston Rockets beat San Antonio by nearly 30 in game one of the Western Conference Semifinals. The Spurs then went on to win game two by 25 points, and the series in six games.
James is the best player to ever live, and if I get an opportunity to triple my money by betting on him in a big game I can’t pass it up.
Current Standings: Grimala (11-13, $9,703), Keefer (45-40-3, $8,395), Brewer (33-32-2, $7,735), Granger (16-22-1, $7,272)
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