CLE +5.5

See all this talk in here about GS this GS that. There is no doubt they are deserving of the praise after overcoming a grueling 7 game series Thunder. For those that think the Cavs are going to be walked over because of GS' triumph out West you best believe the Cavs have been dissecting GS from the day they finished Toronto off and are ready to try their hand at revenge.

The thing is normally when you have a first-time Finals team or a team that is not very mature in knowing how perform under the bright lights of the NBA championship series it could be considered a weakness. But with the Cavaliers it is not the case you have Lebron who is the King of having had played in 6 recent Finals along with a slew of Cavaliers players that have been here. The last thing that GS will want to see is a team that plays very tough man-to-man physical playoff-type grind-you-down defense after an exhausting 7-game series.

Like it or not the letdown is natural in all sports and in this case even more so because GS are playing a team they know in their minds have dominated as of late and there is no real instinctive edge in that deparment. For the Cavs there is plenty they want to show in this game that they are not the same team that lost composure in the Finals and that they too have just as many weapons.

For game one I like the Cavs behind Lebron to attack GS from inside/out from having seen OKC do this well and this year I think the threat of their 3-pt game will make it possible unlike the previous year where GS was daring the short-handed Cavs to beat them from outside and pack the paint. They will not get away with that this year and as I always say things do not stay the same from year to year all the time in this game. Look for Cavs to come out and cash within the 5.5 points being given to them. GL.