Despite being the reigning champs, the Cleveland Cavaliers are betting underdogs entering the NBA Finals.
You can understand that on paper, given Golden State's acquisition of Kevin Durant this offseason, but Kevin Love isn't buying it. According to ESPN's Dave McMenamin, Love called the idea of being underdogs "funny" and that the Cavs are using that as fuel.
"The whole underdog thing is funny to me, because, yeah, at the end of the day we are defending our title," Love said Saturday after the Cavs' first practice in preparation for the Warriors since clinching a spot in the Finals. "We're trying to repeat, which is so hard to do. I think we will use it as fuel, we will use it as motivation, but the idea of playing into it? It's tough for me to say that is the case. I don't feel like we're underdogs. We match up well with them, and I think they'd say the same about us."
The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook has Golden State as a minus-260 favorite compared with Cleveland at plus-220. ESPN's BPI says the Warriors have a 93 percent chance of winning the series. James himself, the reigning Finals MVP, twice said the Warriors have been the best team in the league for the past three years and referred to them as both a "beast" and a "juggernaut."
However, Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue said the Cavs don't need to use the underdog "slight" as motivation - playing in the Finals should be motivation enough.
"We're not going to use that as motivation," Lue said. "It's like, we're in the NBA Finals. That's enough motivation alone. Not worry about what it says in Vegas or what people are saying about underdogs. We're not using that as an excuse. We've got to come out and play. Our goals were set at the beginning of the season, and that's to win a championship. So that's what we're focused on."
Love is averaging 17.2 points and 10.4 rebounds per game this postseason, and is on pace to become the first player in league history to average 10 rebounds per game, shoot 45% from three-point range and make at least 20 three-pointers in a single NBA postseason.
Game 1 of the Finals is not until Thursday, June 1. Tip-off time is set for 9:00 pm on ABC.
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