We’ve got another stacked slate of NBA playoff games ahead this Sunday to sate our weekend betting craving. The Cleveland Cavaliers are aiming to complete the sweep of the Raptors in Toronto, while the Houston Rockets are looking to even up their series against the San Antonio Spurs for what should be another thrilling showdown in the Lone Star State.
Read on below for our brief rundown and predictions for these two basketball blockbusters.
Three games into the series and the Cavaliers have continued to dominate the Raptors by double digits. There’s simply no stopping LeBron James, who had 35 points, eight rebound and seven assists in Game 3’s 115-94 win. That stat line is well in-line with The King’s mind-boggling averages this postseason of 34.3 points, nine boards and 7.3 dimes.
Meanwhile, Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan bounced back tremendously from his abysmal five-point outing from Game 2 with 37 points on Friday. However, he didn’t have fellow running mate Kyle Lowry by his side, and it eventually led to another disappointing defeat for the Raptors.
With Lowry (ankle) doubtful to start in Sunday’s contest, we might as well put a fork in the Raptors’ season already because it’s evident that the Cleveland’s in owning them even when Lowry and DeRozan are on the floor simultaneously. Mind you that the Cavs have taken eight of the last nine meetings (7-2 ATS), with the Raptors’ only win coming in April 12’s regular-season finale wherein both teams had basically nothing left to play for heading into the playoffs.
Leave it to San Antonio’s LaMarcus Aldridge to fill the void left by injured point guard Tony Parker, who’ll miss the rest of the playoffs with a torn quad. Aldridge, who had a total of just 19 points in the first two games of the series, busted out for 26 points in Game 3 as the Spurs pulled away with a 103-92 victory to take a 2-1 lead in the series.
On the other hand, James Harden’s normally prolific scoring ways is coming back into form already, putting up a game-high 43 points on 50 percent shooting in Friday’s loss. Harden just didn’t get enough help from his supporting cast, with Houston’s bench players scoring just 10 points.
The Rockets are actually averaging 44.7 points off the bench this postseason, and we believe that head coach Mike D’Antoni will lean more on the likes of Lou Williams and Eric Gordon to start producing better numbers in Game 4 and come to the aid of the team’s starting crew.
