Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers: Game 2 Prediction, Betting Odds For 2017 NBA Finals

All of the predictions saying the Cleveland Cavaliers had no chance to win the 2017 NBA Finals are looking pretty good after one game. The Golden State Warriors were utterly dominant in the series opener, and they’re expected to have another big victory in Game 2 Sunday night.

Golden State was a seven-point favorite heading into Game 1, but the betting odds increased after Thursday’s 113-91 rout. The Cavs are now 8.5-point underdogs, via OddsShark, and the over/under is 221.

READ: Ranking The 10 Best Players In The 2017 NBA Finals

Cleveland was able to beat Golden State in last year’s finals after the Warriors set a regular-season record with 73 wins. Adding Kevin Durant in the summer, the No.1 seed in the West has looked nearly unstoppable this postseason.

“KD,” LeBron James said at the post-game press conference when asked what stood out about Game 1. “I mean, you take one of the best teams that we had ever assembled last year, that we saw in the regular season and in the postseason, and then in the offseason, you add a high-powered offensive talent like that and a great basketball IQ like that, that's what stands out.

“I mean, it's no ifs, ands or buts. It is what it is. We got to figure out how to combat that, which is going to be a tough challenge for us.”

As good as James was with 28 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists, Durant was the best player on the floor in Game 1. Playing more than adequate defense against the NBA’s top star all night, Durant put up 38 points on 26 shots, eight rebounds and eight assists.

Golden State has gone 13-0 in the playoffs, winning 11 of those games by double-digits. Thursday’s contest was over before the start of the fourth quarter, and the Cavs have no chance against the Warriors if James isn’t clearly the game’s best player.

Durant hasn’t had a poor performance all postseason long. Missing two games with an injury, the former MVP is averaging 26.4 points on 55.4 percent shooting. He’s shot at least 50 percent from the field in each of his last six games. The Cavs probably won’t figure out a way to combat his effectiveness in just a couple of days.

Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving put up decent enough numbers in Game 1, though they weren’t very efficient with their field-goal shooting. Most importantly, they were liabilities on the defensive end as Stephen Curry scored 28 points and nailed six three-pointers.

Cleveland has likely been hoping to steal one of the first two games at Oracle Arena, though Thursday’s contest makes winning Game 2 seem like a daunting task. Even when the Cavs upset the Warriors a year ago, they dropped the first two games of the finals by a combined 48 points.

The Warriors won Game 1 by 22 points, despite getting just 15 total points from Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. If either one of them can get something going offensively, it could be another long night for the defending champs.

Prediction: Golden State over Cleveland, 115-102