James, Cavaliers Underdogs for Finals Game 1

LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers will be looking for an underdog win on Thursday night as the take on the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena in the opening game of the NBA Finals.

James and company are listed as 5.5-point road underdogs at Bovada on the Game 1 betting lines, with the OVER/UNDER for the contest set at 203 points. Cleveland is also a +165 underdog on the series prices at the sportsbook, with Golden State set as the -190 betting favorite.

And James is also trailing on the odds to win the NBA Finals MVP award, as he's the 8/5 second-favorite behind the 5/8 Stephen Curry. Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson are both listed at 12/1 odds to win the NBA Finals MVP award at Bovada.

On the ice the Stanley Cup final also gets underway this week, with the Tampa Bay Lightning the slim -120 home favorites for Game 1 of the series on Wednesday night. The Chicago Blackhawks are EVEN-money underdogs for the game.

However, the Blackhawks are the -145 favorites on the series prices at Bovada for the Stanley Cup final as they search for their third championship in the past six years. The Lightning are the +125 underdogs on those series prices.

As for the Conn Smythe Trophy odds at the sportsbook, Blackhawks forward Jonathan Toews is the 3/1 favorite to be named the NHL playoffs' most valuable player, with teammates Duncan Keith (4/1) and Patrick Kane (11/2) following closely behind. Tampa Bay's Tyler Johnson is also at 4/1 odds.

And on the diamond the Washington Nationals will continue their home series against the Toronto Blue Jays with a doubleheader on Tuesday followed by a game on Wednesday. Max Scherzer (6-3, 1.51 ERA) will get the ball for Washington on Tuesday night with his team the -200 favorite for the game at Bovada.