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Posted at 1:30 PM EST.

7:00 PM EST. The Cavaliers were 7½ point favorites in Game 1 and got whacked by 18. Then oddsmakers made them a similar price today. That tells us all we need to know. The Cavs were down 25-8 in the first quarter before LeBron James even bothered to take a shot, which lets you know what he thinks about the Pacers. The Cavs were flat to start Game 1 and were down 20 in the blink of an eye. They slept walked through the rest of the afternoon, but we suspect James and company will come out with more urgency tonight. This 1-0 deficit is the first time James has been down in the first round in his career, but he was also in a 3-0 hole to the Warriors in The Finals and we all know how that turned out. The market is now overreacting to Cleveland’s poor showing in Game 1 and that presents us with a great opportunity.

The market is desperate for new blood in the NBA title picture and backed the Pacers heavily in Game 1. They were rewarded with an outright win, while the cover was never in doubt. Game 1, like most NBA games, boils down to which team hit the most three-pointers. Victor Oladipo played the game of his life and knocked down 6-of-9 from beyond the arc, while King James was 0-4. Olapido is not a great three-point shooter so this was an anomaly. King James is a great three-point shooter and so are a few others on the Cavs. The NBA is not about defense or styles anymore. It’s all about three-point shooting and who can hit more. Asking the Pacers to repeat what they did on night one is a tall order and frankly, unreasonable. That said, anytime we can get a buy-low opportunity on the Cavs with Lebron in a foul mood, you can pencil is in. When LeBron wins in the playoffs against average teams, his team usually doesn’t win by a bucket or two either, as it’s more like nine or 10 buckets and this one could be even worse.

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