Way to the Cleveland Cavaliers, bettors were capable of stave off the dog days of summer just a bit bit longer, getting a Game 6 within the NBA Finals on Thursday night. Covers talks concerning the matchup with Jason Simbal, vice chairman of risk management for CG Technology; Jeff Stoneback, manager of The Mirage sportsbook at the Las Vegas Strip; and Greg Sindall, senior oddsmaker for online site SportsInteraction.

Golden State Warriors at Cleveland Cavaliers – Open: Cavaliers -2.5; Move: Cavaliers -2

Cleveland got 41 points apiece from LeBron James and Kyrie Irving en path to a 112-97 Game 5 victory over Golden State as a 5.5-point road underdog Monday night. That allowed the Cavaliers to send the series back to Cleveland for tonight’s Game 6, though they're still in a must-win situation.

“We’ve seen most of the action coming in at the Warriors, obviously that’s why the road has moved of their direction,” Simbal told Covers on Thursday morning from The Cosmopolitan at the Strip, one in every of CG’s several Las Vegas shops. “Specifically, moneyline action. Individuals are betting the soldiers at the moneyline to check out to get a bit of extra bang for his or her buck – +115, now all the way down to +110, figuring, you know, the soldiers might close it out here in Game 6.”

Simbal noted that bettors was influenced by the return of Golden State forward Draymond Green, who was suspended for Game 5.

“People really think Draymond Green meant a lot, he’s back now, and that the soldiers are gonna wrap this up,” he said.

The Mirage and other MGM Resorts books have seen a little bit a flipped script from CG. The Cavs opened -2 and feature been bet as much as -2.5.

“There’s been just a little of Cavs money,” Stoneback said earlier today. “And we’ve seen some Cavs moneyline today too. We were right down to -125 at the moneyline, and now we’re at -130. The moneyline move was from some sharp money today. I BELIEVE we’ll be needing the soldiers again tonight.”

Just before noon in Vegas, Cleveland moved to -135 at the moneyline.

SportsInteraction opened the Cavs at -2.5 and, like CG, has since moved to 2.

“We took some sharp money on Golden State,” Sindall said. “We’ve been seeing mostly two-way action at the game since moving to -2, with slightly more public money on Cleveland at home.”

Should Cleveland win Game 6, a Game 7 will surely be entertaining for fans, while representing another opportunity for the books to draw a crowd of bettors on Sunday. But there’s mixed feelings on that prospect.

“It would make it a fun Sunday, with the thrill of Game 7,” Stoneback said. “But it would be better for our hearts if the soldiers closed it out. We’re quite a large loser at the series price for the Cavs. They were as much as 10-1 (after Game 4), and we took quite a lot of cash at 10-1.”

Simbal and Sindall wouldn’t mind seeing a Sunday night tipoff.

“We’d like to see a Game 7,” SportsInteraction’s Sindal said. “The level of interest could be massive. What a perfect Sunday that might be, too – the general round of the united states.. Open, followed by Game 7 of the NBA finals!”

Added CG’s Simbal: “We actually do pretty good to the soldiers within the futures (book), not as great to the Cavs, so we do want the soldiers to win (the series). However, we like it to be in Game 7 at home as it will give us the additional day of volume, and that might mean that the Cavs win tonight, and because we’re probably gonna need them, it might help.”

Patrick Everson is a Las Vegas-based senior writer for Covers. Follow him on Twitter: @Covers Vegas.

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