Cavs vs. Warriors how to watch: Live stream, TV, matchups, line, odds, prediction
Round 2 of the NBA Finals rematch: Golden State vs Cleveland
Round 2 of the Finals rematch between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors takes place on Monday. And just like their first meeting on Christmas Day, this game will take a place on a holiday with Martin Luther King Jr. Day serving as the backdrop. But unlike their first meeting, which the Cavs won 109-109, this game takes place at Golden State's homecourt of Oracle Arena.
How to watch
- When: Monday, 8:00 p.m. ET
- Who: Cleveland Cavaliers at Golden State Warriors
- Where: Oracle Arena
- TV: TNT
- Streaming: SLING, Playstation Vue, TNT App
- Line: Warriors (-8)
What to watch for
Cleveland's use of Kyle Korver: Upgrading their already loaded roster, the Cavs made a splash trade by acquiring All-Star shooter Kyle Korver in a trade with the Hawks. Korver started off slow, learning on the fly and missing all five of his 3-point attempts in his first two games with the Cavs. But he caught fire in Cleveland's 120-108 win over the Kings on Friday, connecting on four triples and finishing with 18 points in a 25 minutes.
Korver hasn't had much time to acclimate himself with his new team but the Cavs were able to have their first full practice in a long time, which should help him, especially considering how cerebral of a player he is. But a matchup against the Warriors will be his real test on his team, and if he is hitting his shots, he could be the reason Cleveland have beat Golden State five games straight.
Redemption: Although it is still just a regular season game, you can safely bet that the Warriors want to beat the Cavs, especially since they had a lead on Christmas but then gave it up. Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry didn't play especially well in the clutch in that game and have since developed better chemistry and gotten more familiar with one another. All of this should heavily factor into Golden State's motivation to finally get a win against Cleveland.
Key matchups
LeBron James vs Kevin Durant: Pretty self-explanatory here, but a matchup between Durant and James is definitely key. Amazingly in the 22 games they have played against each other, Durant has only bested James' teams four times. Could the MLK game be Durant's fifth victory over James?
Kyrie Irving vs. Stephen Curry: Irving seems get extra amped to play against Curry, which always creates an entertaining point guard matchup. Curry has been on a tear as of late and will look to continue that against the Cavs. If Irving can step up defensively against Curry, that would be quite advantageous for Cleveland.
Prediction: Warriors (-8). The Cavs are a bit road weary and Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love have missed some time in the past couple of weeks so while Cleveland will keep this game competitive, they will likely finally lose to the Warriors. Also this game is at Oracle Arena, where the Warriors have only lost three times all season. There are just too many reasons for Golden State not to win this one.
















