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Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals will tip off later tonight, starting off the fourth consecutive series between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers with a championship on the line. It has the makings of an epic battle, featuring a number of star players such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and many other familiar faces. While the Cavs arguably have the best player on the floor in LeBron and both teams needed seven games to advance through their respective conference final, the Dubs still boast the more complete lineup and will trot out the same core—with the notable exception of Andre Iguodala, who will officially miss Game 1 with a leg contusion—from last year’s 4-1 Finals victory.
For that reason, oddsmakers are predicting Golden State to thoroughly rout their foe in this year’s edition of what many believe is now the greatest rivalry in sports. The Warriors opened as a massive, -750 favorite to defend the Larry O’Brien Trophy, meaning bettors would have to wager a whopping $7.50 to return a single dollar should they win. The Cavs have been installed as a +650 underdog, by far the longest odds that a LeBron-led team has had during his incredible run of eight consecutive trips to the NBA Finals. It shouldn’t come as any surprise that the Dubs are heavy chalk for Game 1 at Oracle Arena, with the current spread hovering around 12.5 points, which was bet up from the 11.5-point open. Vegas is expecting a healthy amount of scoring in the contest, setting the over/under at a total of 214.5 points.
For those looking to make a wager on Game 1, the series, or even both, it’s worth taking a look at the picks that pro handicapper Jon Price of SportsInformationTraders.com sent along for the matchup. Before getting to those, have a peek at the complete series schedule, tip-off start times, TV channel, live stream info, latest odds and more for the 2018 NBA Finals. You’ll also find the an updated 2018 NBA Playoff bracket, as well as relevant social media posts and quotes from the coaches before the start of the fourth edition of this Warriors vs. Cavaliers championship showdown.The Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers will meet in the NBA Finals for the fourth straight year, starting Thursday night, at Oakland’s Oracle Arena.
While fans of both teams are excited for the matchup, is this latest edition of the same matchup a good thing for the NBA? Or are people getting sick of it?
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Depends on whom you ask.
The players love it, even if they hate the question.
“Yeah, I think it’s great. I think it’s great. You want me to elaborate?” Warriors forward Kevin Durant said at Wednesday’s media scrum ahead of the Finals.
“It’s not our fault,” said Golden State’s Klay Thompson. “I’m sure if you asked the fans of the Warriors or the Cavs ... I’m sure they’re happy with their team’s performance. The only people I hear saying that are fans of other teams.”In Boston, James and his Cavaliers outlasted the storied Celtics, attracting over 13 million viewers, according to the Nielsen ratings. That’s ESPN’s second-best rating ever for an NBA playoff game.
The next night, the Warriors and Rockets played their own Game 7, and the audience was even bigger. Over 18 million viewers tuned in to see Golden State eliminate Houston. That’s the second-largest cable television audience in history for an NBA game, trailing only the Warriors-Thunder Game 7 in 2016, according to the Associated Press and NBA.com.
ESPN reported a 31 percent jump in its NBA playoff audience this year. Clearly, the fans have been engaged.
But will they remain so during the Finals? Few give Cleveland a chance to beat the Warriors this time. Golden State features four All-Stars in the starting lineup. Cleveland counters with one legend, James, and a cast of role players.There have been rumblings on social media that fans are growing tired of this matchup.
“Waking up to see the #Cavs will be playing the Warriors, again, was not how I’d like to start this work week. #CavsWarriorsIV #NBAFinals,” tweeted one fan from Pennsylvania after the Warriors won Game 7 in Houston.
“I’ll still be watching, but after the last two weeks, #CavsWarriorsIV is easily the least inspiring outcome,” tweeted another in Nashville.
But once the ball goes up, many around the country will tune in to see whether Cleveland can pull off the upset. Through their recent dominance of the NBA landscape, the Warriors have gone from everyone’s darlings in 2015 to everyone’s villains in 2018.
Which gives James and his teammates an interesting opportunity.
“Listen, Golden State is one of the best teams I’ve ever played. It’s one of the best teams that’s ever been assembled,” James said Wednesday. “For me as a competitor, it’s fun. It’s truly fun to know when I’m done playing the game of basketball to know that I played against some of the greatest teams that ever played, ever been assembled. And this is one of them.”
Star power attracts viewers. Some basketball purists may have wanted to see an upstart Toronto Raptors team reach the Finals after winning the most games in the Eastern Conference during the regular season. Others liked the Celtics, who lost two of their best players to injuries and still came one game short of the Finals, after an inspired run through the playoffs.
Then again, most fans couldn’t name five players on the Raptors or the Celtics. But they know LeBron James. Stephen Curry’s jersey is the No. 1 seller in the league. Draymond Green is a player many fans love to hate. Kevin Durant always brings a touch of melodrama to the occasion.
This is an NBA telenovela, writ large.
People may not like dynasties. But they still watch them.
“Baseball thrived for many years with the New York Yankees as repeaters,” sports agent Leigh Steinberg wrote in an opinion piece recently published by Forbes.com. “The NFL had the Dallas Cowboys as ‘America’s Team.’ The Buffalo Bills made four consecutive losing Super Bowl appearances. The New England Patriots have been back many times, and both the MLB and the NFL are healthy.”
More parity may be on the horizon in the NBA, with the aforementioned Celtics, Raptors and Rockets, among other teams, poised to get better. There has been talk of simply taking the top 16 teams in the league into the playoffs, leaving geography out of the equation. Until then, enjoy Round 4.
“I think this is a great display of basketball on the court from both sides, and if you’re a real lover of the game, you can enjoy how both teams play it, even though it may be different,” said Durant. “So if you enjoy basketball, I don’t feel like you should have any complaints because it’s a great set of players on both teams.”
