166

Golden State Warriors (29-9)

vs

Cleveland Cavaliers (22-17)

After nearly 2 years of not playing in a professional game of basketball, Klay Thompson makes his much anticipated return to the court against old rivals - the Cleveland Cavaliers. While the Cavaliers are not the team Klay is used to facing, they have surprised the league and played with great energy and grit this year. The Warriors have also surprised the league, and possess the second best record in the NBA, only trailing the Phoenix Suns (by 1 game). They haven’t been at full strength all year, missing second year center James Wiseman, and of course, Klay Thompson. It is scary to think of what they can do if Klay returns to 100%, and based off of interviews of the people around Klay, it seems like he will come back strong. His points prop is set at 12.5. Assuming Klay will be on a minutes restriction, this could be close. I do feel as though he will score at least 15, but I don’t say that as confidently as I would if I knew how many minutes he’ll be playing.

Both teams are at full strength (minus those who are out for the season - Ricky Rubio, Colin Sexton) , and are fantastic against the spread. Cleveland is 26-11-2 ATS, and Golden State is 22-14-2 ATS. As much as I want to bet on the Warriors, and for Klay to score 13+ points, the point of this page is to be unbiased and take bets with the most value, so I will be taking a couple of other bets that I think will have more value given the changes in lineups and anticipation of this game. Both teams have top ranked defenses, and I believe this will be a low scoring matchup, as much as everyone wants it to be a shootout. The Warriors don’t have a solid true center (Kevon Looney), so I anticipate Jarrett Allen to have a good rebounding game, and for this game to be low scoring.

Take the under 216 total points and Jarrett Allen over 10.5 rebounds.