NBA Finals Preview: Golden State Warriors vs Cleveland Cavaliers

“We needed him. We’re happy we got him”. Just drop a question/comment below, and we’ll rally around your ideas as well. He scored 42 in an important Game 4 victory over the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals and can stand up to any of Golden State’s perimeter players from a scoring and finishing standpoint. That part honestly surprises me. Always. That’s why this Finals was scheduled from the time Cleveland and Golden State ended a year ago and will be again as soon as the confetti stops falling after the next five games.

I am glad that we enter this series with both teams at full strength, minus Head Coach Steve Kerr of course.

A slight decline in price this year was expected, given last year’s NBA Finals featured a record-setting 73-win Warriors team and the possibility of LeBron James’ first NBA title win as a member of the Cavaliers.

James became the first player to lead an NBA Finals in every major statistical category with 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 2.6 steals and 2.3 blocked shots a game past year. So what happens this time around?

“That really changed their team”.

Iguodala hit 14 three-pointers in the 2015 NBA Finals and hit 7 more three-pointers in the 2016 NBA Finals. Cleveland will try to play lockdown defense as Golden State bombs away three point shots as it runs and guns. Both teams offenses are sharp.

Defensively, the Cavs’ best option may be to remove Love from the court and go small with quicker, better defenders on James and Thompson.

However, it’s tough to find a fit for the Cavs with each team’s regular starting lineup on the floor. “I’m sure they felt the same way previous year”, Thompson said.

Defensively the Warriors have the edge.

So yeah, this series a big deal. That is good news for the over actually because it means he is not shy about shooting them. They have been better in the post-season but not fantastic. But you can’t get caught up in percentages, especially when you’re winning. His play in the first rounds suggests it should be his best finals yet. In back-to-back finals, James willed his team to win, making him as close to Michael Jordan as he ever has been in his career. Now that the moment is here, I think the Cavaliers come through. So how do you pick a victor?

All I have to say is, this thing better be worth the wait. If I’m able to accomplish something, then it adds to it on its own.

The Warriors don’t have the best player.

Consequently, LeBron’s rebounding numbers were up in those two NBA Finals series.

A month later, Steph was stepping back again as the Warriors welcomed Kevin Durant to their star-studded roster. With all this said, James is still listed as the third favorite (+240) to win the finals MVP behind Durant (+200) and Stephen Curry (+210). While Curry and Klay Thompson had their issues against Cleveland a year ago, it’s going to be incredibly hard for the Cavs to contain either of Golden State’s top scorers this time around.

Kerr has been out of action since Game 2 of the Warriors’ first-round National Basketball Association playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers as he searched for a remedy for the migraines and nausea he’s experienced stemming from back surgery almost two years ago.