Anticipation grows around arena ahead of NBA Finals showdown

Golden State Warriors forward Andre Iguodala is playing in but didn’t start Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night despite a balky back that limited him the previous game.

The underdog Cavs blew past the Warriors in Game 5 and 6, showcasing LeBron James’s and Kyrie Irving’s vast offensive skills. In addition to the 41 points, James registered 11 assists, pulled down eight rebounds, stole four passes and blocked four shots, including one on Curry in the second half of the win. In sleeved jerseys this year, LeBron is 6-0 with an average of 32.1 points, 9.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game on 54.2% shooting.

Back in 2014, James blamed a 6-for-18 shooting performance against the Spurs on his sleeves, saying “I already don’t have much room for error on my jumpers”. “Hopefully this is a game where we can say ‘We were there'”.

Draymond Green is coming up huge in Game 7. Draymond Green leads all scorers with 5 points.

The 3-pointers have stopped falling, the swagger has gone missing and the defense has had no answers for LeBron James.

Tensions are so high, after fouling out and being ejected in Game 6, the mild mannered Curry and the equally composed coach Steve Kerr were both hit with $25,000 fines for overly expressing their less than favorable views about the way the game was officiated.

The Cavs can end Cleveland’s title drought dating to 1964 with a win in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, and it seems half of Northeast Ohio will cram into bars, restaurants and Quicken Loans Arena to watch.

“When you go from up 3-1 to 3-3, it’s disappointing”, Kerr said. It’s still hard to imagine that a franchise that once put a BJ, Bimbo, Mookie, and Muggsy on the floor past their primes at the lowest points of almost two decades of futility could possibly enjoy this much success, but we have to just embrace it for what it is: quite possibly the best season of basketball many of us will ever see in our lifetimes.

Will the Warriors, who won an NBA-record 73 games during the regular season, cap the playoff season with a second consecutive championship?

“This is our Super Bowl”, the 40-year-old said. He’s on fire. He had missed 10-straight 3-pointers entering Game 7.

Then the Bay Area became the ninth market to send teams to the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Final in the same year. You can bet the Cavs would love to return the favor and celebrate a title on the Warriors’ home court.

A Cleveland win would mean a highly disappointing conclusion to Golden State’s record season.