Must-win spot for Warriors pays for bettors
At the drive-thru window, it’s not always wise to super-size the drink and fries. Sometimes, it’s smarter to go smaller. In this case, the Golden State Warriors shoved aside the 7-footer and went with Andre Iguodala.
The Warriors, at what could be a pivotal point in the NBA Finals, played small and fast to humble “The King” and his gassed supporting cast.
Iguodala won the battle with a bloodied and tired LeBron James as Golden State fought back for a 103-82 victory over Cleveland in Game 4 on Thursday night. The series is tied, but the Warriors returned to the role of heavy favorites.
The bettors were winners, too. The public and wiseguys were right to back a favorite that was backed against the wall and desperate.
“They bet this game like Golden State was not going to lose,” Wynn Las Vegas sports book director John Avello said. “Money came pouring in. I saw some sharper money on Golden State, and I totally understand it. It was a must-win spot for the Warriors. If they don’t win, there’s no championship, and they got the job done.”
No team has come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the Finals, but the Warriors need not worry about doing it for the first time. It’s now a three-game series, with Golden State getting two on its home court.
Down 2-1, the Warriors were minus-130 series favorites. But their series-tying win forced a super-sized adjustment in the price to minus-380. The party in the streets of Cleveland has been put on hold.
A long series is all about adjustments and counterpunches. Momentum can take a major shift in one game. Golden State coach Steve Kerr made the proper adjustment by shrinking his starting lineup — inserting the 6-foot-6-inch Iguodala for 7-foot Andrew Bogut — and forcing the Cavaliers to play faster.
“It was a definite gamble,” said Erin Rynning, Sportsmemo.com handicapper.
Kerr played his cards as well as Phil Hellmuth at a final table. Iguodala set a different tone on both ends in Game 4, scoring 22 points — way above his postseason average of 8.7 — as James shot 4-for-14 from the field while being defended by Iguodala.
James appeared superhuman in the first three games, but he crashed back to earth and into a TV camera after a hard foul by Bogut in the second quarter. Bogut played only three minutes and did not score, yet his hit on James made a big impact.
Now that he’s acting in a movie, James is perceived as too dramatic. But he was cut on the head and wiping away blood. James got a kiss from his mom, and there was speculation he might have suffered a concussion. He finished with 20 points — never sniffing his proposition total of 35½ — while shooting 7-for-22 and missing half of his 10 free throws.
His overachieving sidekick, point guard Matthew Dellavedova, disappeared and shot 3-for-14. He had 10 points to go with no highlights of dives for loose balls. J.R. Smith shot 2-for-10 and missed all eight of his 3s. The Cleveland bench contributed a total of seven points in the type of lousy effort that was expected all along.
“Cleveland just doesn’t have anywhere to go if it’s not LeBron,” Rynning said. “Nobody stepped up.”
The big men, Timofey Mozgov (28 points and 10 rebounds) and Tristan Thompson, stepped up with strong low-post play for the Cavaliers, but that was the tradeoff Kerr was willing to make by playing small ball. The Warriors essentially used seven players, five guards and two small forwards.
Golden State double-teamed James far more often, not allowing him to dictate a slow pace and orchestrate the offense on almost every possession.
“If you take the Cleveland team without LeBron, in the regular season they would go 15-67,” Avello said. “It goes to show you how great LeBron is. I thought if LeBron and the Cavs won this series, it would be the biggest accomplishment ever in the Finals.
“But the more I watch the Warriors, I’m not all that impressed. When a team plays them tight and roughs them up a little, they are not that effective.”
The Cavaliers shot 33 percent from the field, including 4-for-27 on 3s. After a 55-point first quarter — with Golden State leading 31-24 — the score was on pace to go over 194, but Cleveland’s offense died during a 12-point fourth quarter.
The Warriors’ manhood was challenged, and it took two punches to the face for a wake-up call. ESPN carnival barker Stephen A. Smith predicted a 40-point outburst from Stephen Curry, but that never developed. Curry was solid in scoring 22, while Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green finally showed up for the series.
It was what the public and wiseguys expected when betting Golden State from a 2½- to a 4-point favorite.
“For the most part, it’s just a role reversal of what has been happening. Golden State made shots, and Cleveland didn’t make (expletive),” Rynning said. “It’s like a 12-round heavyweight fight, and in the first three rounds the Cavaliers kind of punched themselves out a little bit and didn’t have much in the tank.”
The Cavaliers can rest and regroup for Sunday’s game, but the momentum in the series just took a super-sized shift.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports betting columnist Matt Youmans can be reached at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts “The Las Vegas Sportsline” weekdays at 2 p.m. on ESPN Radio (1100 AM). Follow him on Twitter: @mattyoumans247.
