Tony Dejak / Associated Press
Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James, left, and Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry battle for a loose ball in the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2016, in Cleveland. The Cavaliers won 109-108.
By Mike Grimala ( contact )
Monday, Jan. 16, 2017 | 11:37 a.m.
We’ve entered the third season of the annual South Point-lined Play of the Day competition, effective July 1.
Starting bankrolls have reset to $10,000, with the maximum bet being to win $1,000 and the minimum wager $300. Ray Brewer won the 2015-2016 season after Taylor Bern prevailed in 2014-2015. Bern stepped away in the middle of the 2016-2017 season with a 16-12 record and $13,317 bankroll, with Mike Grimala taking his place.
This is the best rivalry in the NBA right now, and maybe all of sports, as both teams are playing at a championship level and remain evenly matched, even though Cleveland has won the last four meetings (including three straight to close out last year’s NBA Finals). And it’s the closeness of the rivalry makes me lean toward Cleveland +7.5 in this one.
Yes, the Warriors will be playing at home, but 7.5 points seems like too big of a spread considering how well the Cavs have matched up with them over the last two seasons. When these teams met in Cleveland on Christmas Day, the Warriors ran out to a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter but couldn’t put it away, as LeBron James and Co. came back to win by a single point, 109-108.
James put up 31 points and 13 rebounds in that game, and Kyrie Irving went for 25 points and 10 assists. Golden State still doesn’t have anyone capable of defending either of them. No matter how well the Warriors play on offense, I fully expect James and Irving to at least keep this game close, if not win it outright.
