The third installment of Cavs versus Warriors in the NBA finals starts tomorrow. Pretty much the entire World penciled this matchup in back in November. Of course, it took us 7 months and God knows how many games to actually get to this finals. Usually, at least the playoff games along the way are interesting. Not so much this year. The Dubs are 12-0 and the Cavs are 12-1 after 3 round of playoffs. I predicted a competitive conference finals, but that was not to be. Kwahi and Isaiah's injuries took away whatever little intrigue and challenge was left in the conference finals. This leaves us with these finals as the only hope for an intriguing playoff contest this season. This is the first time the same teams have met in 3 straight NBA finals and that tells you how rare and good these 2 teams are.
We needed this matchup for a fair and equal contest if not for anything else. The first year they met, LeBron carried the Cavs without Kyrie and Love and almost shocked the Warriors. Then, last year, the Warriors dealt with the Draymond suspension and a banged up Curry in addition to Iggy and Bogut's injuries mid-series. So, though this is the third time they are meeting in the finals, this is really the first time both rosters as constructed are engaging in a healthy contest. Hope it stays that way through the series. My heart almost stopped when Kyrie twisted his ankle and went to the ground against Boston. Luckily, he not only got up, but dominated that quarter and the subsequent quarters in that series. He looks ready to roll and so does LeBron who has had an amazing playoffs this year.
The Warriors are clearly the better team, but the Cavs are the closest and the most serious competition. Curry had a very mediocre finals last year and the Warriors still were dominating until game 5 when Draymond got suspended. Thats how good the Warriors team is and they have added Durant to the mix. So it's almost stupid to pick against them in these finals. But this is sports and last year's finals showed us that anything can happen. If anybody has a shot against these Aarriors, it's this Cavs team. The Cavs are a super-team themselves and are the closest to the Warriors in terms of talent. Kyrie steps up against the Warriors and Curry to make it even more equal. Last but not the least, the Cavs have the best player on the court in the form of LeBron whenever they suit-up against whoever including these Warriors and the best player makes more of an impact in basketball than any other sport.
Given all that, this has a chance to become another epic finals like last year. But it also can end up being a sweep because these Warriors are so good. I think the biggest challenge for the Warriors is going to be mental if these games get tight. They have not been challenged a lot all season and a close game this late in the season might stress them out in new ways that they may not be entirely comfortable with. More importantly, it may bring some bad memories from last year and even the Christmas day matchup. A close game with the ball in Kyrie's hands will be the dubs worst nightmare. That may be the Cavs' best hope in this series - force a few close games and see if the Dubs crack under the pressure as LeBron and Kyrie execute flawlessly. Easier said than done against these Dubs. So I call this for the Warriors 4-1.
The Dubs are going to go for a sweep. I believe thats the new challenge they will be chasing now after all that happened last year. They won't talk about it, but thats the mindset they are going in with. It's going to be hard for the Dubs to sweep just because of everything this matchup brings including LeBron. It's his 7th finals and thats an amazing feat. Given the one week gap leading into game 1, all of the angles for this matchup has been a bit over-analyzed much like the Super Bowl. One common topic was whether LeBron will be ranked higher than Jordan if he wins this one. Interesting question, but let him get there first before we start breaking that down. The other topic that has been over-thought and analyzed is whether the best starting 5 from both teams combined will actually have 3 Cavs factoring in the positions? I don't think so. It still has to be Curry, Klay, LeBron, Draymond, and Tristan. Some folks are giving the PG spot to Kyrie over Curry and manufacturing some excitement by making a case for the Cavs starting lineup being better. Real cute and nice try! You can slice and dice it anyways, but 4-1 for the Warriors it is.
We needed this matchup for a fair and equal contest if not for anything else. The first year they met, LeBron carried the Cavs without Kyrie and Love and almost shocked the Warriors. Then, last year, the Warriors dealt with the Draymond suspension and a banged up Curry in addition to Iggy and Bogut's injuries mid-series. So, though this is the third time they are meeting in the finals, this is really the first time both rosters as constructed are engaging in a healthy contest. Hope it stays that way through the series. My heart almost stopped when Kyrie twisted his ankle and went to the ground against Boston. Luckily, he not only got up, but dominated that quarter and the subsequent quarters in that series. He looks ready to roll and so does LeBron who has had an amazing playoffs this year.
The Warriors are clearly the better team, but the Cavs are the closest and the most serious competition. Curry had a very mediocre finals last year and the Warriors still were dominating until game 5 when Draymond got suspended. Thats how good the Warriors team is and they have added Durant to the mix. So it's almost stupid to pick against them in these finals. But this is sports and last year's finals showed us that anything can happen. If anybody has a shot against these Aarriors, it's this Cavs team. The Cavs are a super-team themselves and are the closest to the Warriors in terms of talent. Kyrie steps up against the Warriors and Curry to make it even more equal. Last but not the least, the Cavs have the best player on the court in the form of LeBron whenever they suit-up against whoever including these Warriors and the best player makes more of an impact in basketball than any other sport.
Given all that, this has a chance to become another epic finals like last year. But it also can end up being a sweep because these Warriors are so good. I think the biggest challenge for the Warriors is going to be mental if these games get tight. They have not been challenged a lot all season and a close game this late in the season might stress them out in new ways that they may not be entirely comfortable with. More importantly, it may bring some bad memories from last year and even the Christmas day matchup. A close game with the ball in Kyrie's hands will be the dubs worst nightmare. That may be the Cavs' best hope in this series - force a few close games and see if the Dubs crack under the pressure as LeBron and Kyrie execute flawlessly. Easier said than done against these Dubs. So I call this for the Warriors 4-1.
The Dubs are going to go for a sweep. I believe thats the new challenge they will be chasing now after all that happened last year. They won't talk about it, but thats the mindset they are going in with. It's going to be hard for the Dubs to sweep just because of everything this matchup brings including LeBron. It's his 7th finals and thats an amazing feat. Given the one week gap leading into game 1, all of the angles for this matchup has been a bit over-analyzed much like the Super Bowl. One common topic was whether LeBron will be ranked higher than Jordan if he wins this one. Interesting question, but let him get there first before we start breaking that down. The other topic that has been over-thought and analyzed is whether the best starting 5 from both teams combined will actually have 3 Cavs factoring in the positions? I don't think so. It still has to be Curry, Klay, LeBron, Draymond, and Tristan. Some folks are giving the PG spot to Kyrie over Curry and manufacturing some excitement by making a case for the Cavs starting lineup being better. Real cute and nice try! You can slice and dice it anyways, but 4-1 for the Warriors it is.
3 comments:
Hope the Finals can salvage the NBA playoffs this year -- too many one-sides series up to this point.
I think Golden State will be rusty in Game 1 after such a long layoff and they say LeBron is better the more rest he gets so I'm picking Cleveland to win Game 1.
Warriors in 5 is still the most likely outcome, I feel (barring injuries, suspensions and the like).
Fun starts in a few hours. Enjoy the finals and hope we get a good one.
Good prediction! :)
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