Only 34 of the 471 teams that have fallen behind 2-0 in an NBA playoff series have come back and won the series. The Cleveland Cavaliers are trying to become the 35th team to do so as they attempt to climb out of that hole against the Detroit Pistons. Winning Game 4 and evening the series would go a long way in helping them do so.
As of now, the Cavs are favored in Game 4 and have a good chance of doing so. FanDuel lists Cleveland as a 3.5-point favorite in Game 4. So far this series, the favored team has won all three games and covered the point spread in the process. The Cavs are hoping that trend continues on Monday.
The race out of the Eastern Conference is clearing up with the New York Knicks sweeping the Philadelphia 76ers. Understandably, the Knicks are the favorites to come out of the conference as they’re -150 to do so.
The Pistons are closely behind. FanDuel lists them at +200 to win the East. The Cavs are far behind at +650 to do so.
These odds mirror how things look for the Cavs in terms of winning a championship. The Cavs have the fifth-lowest odds to win the Finals among the seven remaining playoff teams at +4000. The Pistons are just in front of them at +1800.
This rationale makes sense. The Cavs are behind in the series. Even if they tied things up in Game 4, they would still need to win on the road at least once to prevail in the series. Picking up a road win has alluded them so far this postseason as they’ve dropped all five road games. Since 2023, the Cavs are a combined 4-13 away from Rocket Arena in the postseason.
We’ll see if the Cavs can come back against the Pistons in their second-round series.
You can follow all of the playoff action with FanDuel.
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