Things That Will Decide Warriors Vs Cavs

The Warriors were just -300 favorites to win the title past year, and the Cavaliers were only +180 underdogs at the start of the series in 2016, which they came back to win after overcoming a 3-1 deficit to stun Golden State.

Like Cleveland, Houston was shorthanded in Game 7 due to injury.

There wasn’t a Game 7 in last year’s Western Conference Finals, but overall this year’s series is up 48% from 2017 when it was on ESPN and 51% over the ECF on TNT. Golden State’s preponderance of talent means that they have multiple players who can put in solid shifts against The King, and that fact, paired with the team’s switch-heavy defense, lends itself to the strategy.

Their ultimate aim was to end the Warriors’ reign in the west and compete for a championship but they fell short as they were beaten in seven games by the defending champs. That’s a combined shooting percentage of under 10 percent (9.8).

The Cavaliers will have to get red-hot while shooting from behind the 3-point arc. So yes, a big part of this series will come down to James, though even a series of superhuman performances won’t do the job if he doesn’t get enough help from his teammates.

Iguodala was missing for the final four games of the Western Conference finals as the Golden State Warriors outlasted the Houston Rockets on Monday night in the finale of a seven-game series.

Lue hinted Love will return to the starting lineup if he is cleared to play against the Warriors.

Love suffered a concussion in the first quarter of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals with Boston on May 25. James and Love combined to score 100 points in the two games, but Dwyane Wade, Jae Crowder and Thomas were all shipped elsewhere by the Cavs in a series of trade-deadline moves. Expect to see him tasked with handling James a lot as well, likely alongside Durant. Harden (42.7 passes per game) is adept at creating havoc in the lane, getting to the free throw line and finding open shooters. Both were white-hot compared to Trevor Ariza, who missed all nine of his 3-point shots and all three of his 2-point shots. No other Cavs are scoring in double digits. It would represent the team’s third title in four seasons, culminating in back-to-back championships.

While Golden State certainly isn’t happy the way it started the last two games, its ability to turn things around in the second half gives the Warriors confidence heading into the next challenge.