Bob Donnan / USA TODAY Sports via AP
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) shoots in front of Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith on Sunday, June 5, 2016, during the first half of Game 2 of basketball’s NBA Finals in Oakland, Calif.
Tuesday, June 7, 2016 | 2 a.m.
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Many sports books have posted over/under point total proposition wagers for six different players in each of the first two games of the NBA Finals.
Golden State’s Draymond Green is the lone one among to the group to go over his total in both contests. Only one other player has gone over in either game, as Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving beat a line of 23.5 with 26 points in game 1.
No one could have anticipated the Warriors holding a 2-0 series lead — and outscoring the Cavaliers by 48 points on top of it — despite Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson combining to score 54 points less than their over/unders in two games. Likewise, LeBron James and Kevin Love falling a combined 23 points short of their betting-market expectation can only go so far in explaining Cleveland’s troubles.
The NBA Finals have prolonged a postseason-long barrage of unders. Casinos may have endured some losing days over the last two months with favorites covering in excess of 60 percent, but they’ve partially made up for it by evading parlay-popular overs.
Aided by the quiet starts from the likes of Curry and James, both NBA Finals games have fallen well under the total. That brings the record in unders overall in this year’s NBA Playoffs to 50-31, with none of the last five games coming anywhere close to going over.
The total falls to 206 points, from a game 1 price of 211, in Wednesday's NBA Finals game 3 at QuickenLoans Arena in Cleveland. Golden State sits as a 1-point favorite at most shops, making it only the second time this season Cleveland comes into a home game as an underdog.
The Cavaliers have played exceptionally at home, especially in the playoffs. They’ve won all seven games in their home building, and covered in the last six.
But one of eight regular-season home losses came in a 132-108 dismemberment to Golden State in January.
James, Irving and Love combined for only 27 points in a defeat that largely led to the firing of coach David Blatt. New coach Tyronn Lue has preached a faster pace, leading to higher-scoring games, and found success in stretches.
Bettors just haven’t gotten to take advantage. Since Lue assumed his position, the Cavaliers are almost dead even in totals with a 29-28 record to the over.
It’s been the year of the under in the NBA.
Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
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