NBA Finals 2017 | Cavaliers vs. Warriors picks, prediction

The Cavaliers are defending champions after James sparked the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history, rallying Cleveland from 3-1 down to win last year’s best-of-seven series in a dramatic winner-take-all showdown at Oakland, California.

Win or lose in the NBA Finals, Kevin Durant will, too.

This NBA Finals may be the most anticipated Finals since the second Heat vs. Spurs matchup in 2014, but it was not always this way. Previously, James spent the first seven years of his career as a Cavalier. LeBron also has three NBA Finals MVP Awards, trailing only Jordan’s six.

On July 11, 2014, James officially declared that he was returning home to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Kyrie brings the Championship to Cleveland.

“Golden State has more margin of error so they can have guys maybe not shooting the ball particularly well because Curry and Durant are on such a roll that it may not matter”, former National Basketball Association coach Van Gundy said on a conference call. Never in National Basketball Association history has the same two teams met in the Finals for three straight seasons.

Kerr, who is in his third season with Golden State, hasn’t coached since Game 2 of the team’s opening-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers due to complications from a previous back surgery. “Everybody has been waiting to get to this point in the season”.

Fans and analysts criticized the Warriors championship victory calling it “lucky” and a “fluke”. They’re also the first ever to sweep three teams 4-0.

Oh, and there’s Golden State’s Stephen Curry. That could still work for the Cavs if any one of the Warriors shooters gets inexplicably cold.

The Warriors finished the regular season with the best record in the league 67-15. That’s the highest in history for a minimum of five playoff games.

This time around the Cavaliers had a full roster at 100 percent health. Who knows, maybe the Spurs could have challenged the Warriors this season with Leonard, and if they add Chris Paul this offseason, they’d be even more risky.

One of the few things that hasn’t gone right for Golden State this postseason has been Klay Thompson’s shooting. And when the Warriors get smaller and put Draymond Green at center, which I think they will be more aggressive doing. then it gets even harder. Kevin Durant has 23 points and the Warriors are up 60-52 at halftime.

Can Cleveland win a game or two in this series?

Offensively, the Cavaliers’ chances rest on James and Kyrie Irving attacking the basket and reducing the impact of Green, the NBA’s best defensive player.

The 2017 NBA Playoffs have been utterly lopsided thus far. That’s a shame because both teams are very good.

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

Kerr had said on Monday his status remained “up in the air” but that he expected a final decision to be made shortly after Game 1, if not before. At the end, one of these team will have to hit the road, Jack. But with Kevin Durant now in Golden State, hasn’t that created a powerhouse superteam that will dominate the league the next four or five years?

The 2017 NBA Finals have had an air of inevitability about them since before the start of this season.

“We know it’s going to be a battle”. It’s time to go. The Warriors have won all but two of their games by double digits.