The Golden State Warriors have to be a little frustrated by now, as they can't seem to figure out how to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers. You obviously recall last summer that Cleveland was down three games to one in the NBA Finals, then came back to win three straight games, two of them in Oakland. And on Christmas Day the Cavs mounted a big comeback in the final stanza to pull out a one-point win. Now these teams meet again, on Martin Luther King's birthday, with a starting time of 8 PM ET at the Oracle Arena. BetAnySports customers will get reduced juice on the pro basketball betting odds before the game starts, and once it kicks off, they can stay in the action as they take advantage of what is available through Live Betting Ultra.

These are the two teams that have met two seasons in a row for the title, and they are in first place in their respective conferences, so they are certainly in line to have the home-court advantage throughout their side of the playoffs. Cleveland is 29-10 straight-up and 17-20-2 against the basketball pointspread. Golden State is 34-6 straight-up and 17-22-1 ATS. Both of these clubs have lost six of their last seven games against the number.

Golden State is the better shooting team, hitting just under 50% for the season, and in six of their last eight games they have exceeded that. That included their 127-107 victory over the Detroit Pistons four nights ago, as they nailed 56% from the field and put up 41 points in the third quarter. Cleveland last saw action three nights ago, and after having two straight games – both losses – where they were below 40%, they hit 50.6% against the Sacramento Kings in the 120-108 win. Their new acquisition, Kyle Korver, the three-time NBA three-point percentage champion, made four of his six attempts from beyond the arc and finished with 18 points. He is obviously a key performer coming off the bench.

In the pro basketball betting odds posted on this game by the people at BetAnySports, the Warriors are laying points:

Golden State Warriors -8
Cleveland Cavaliers +8

Over 228 points -110
Under 228 points -110

In the Christmas Day game, Cleveland hit only 39% of its shots, but had 18 offensive rebounds. Kevin Durant had 36 points and 15 boards for Golden State, while LeBron James had 31 and 13, respectively, for the Cavaliers. These are teams who like to shoot from long-range; only two teams take more three-pointers than Cleveland does, and Golden State is not far behind. Yes, the Warriors are better at defending out on the perimeter, limiting their opponents to just 32.3%, but they are not likely to have an advantage on the boards in this game.

In the last four meetings, these teams have shot 65, 66, 66 and 66 triples, and they have hit a combined 34.6%. That's below the season average currently for both teams. You would have to consider Golden State the better defensive team, and indeed they are second in the NBA and Defensive Rating, behind only the Utah Jazz. But despite the presence of Draymond Green, who fills up the stat sheet with 10.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 7.7 assists per game, they are not going to have a rebounding advantage in the least when they go to their small lineup.

BetAnySports customers know that these are not necessarily teams who rely a lot on the bench – both of them have three players in the starting lineup averaging 20 or more points. In that respect, they stand alone among all NBA squads. Golden State gets some good work off the bench from Ian Clark, the 6-3 guard who had a +16+/minus rating against the Pistons the other night. The Cavs will bring Korver and Channing Frye off the bench to throw them up from downtown.

Maybe this becomes a chess match; the Warriors are probably more flexible in terms of their effectiveness with different lineups, and certainly when they go "small" that might have the effect of taking Kevin Love (21.2 points, 11 rebounds per game) off the floor. But nothing is going to take LeBron James out of the lineup for strategic purposes; he is still going strong, leading this team in scoring and assists. Kyrie Irving is 41% from three-point territory, and that is better than any of the marksmen in the Golden State starting lineup. There is no getting around the fact that the Cavaliers have exercised some matchup advantages, although the ability for the Warriors to mesh Durant and Steph Curry into the lineup has been admirable, as that did not appear it was going to be the case as they took a pounding in the opener against San Antonio.

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