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It’s on! Once more, and for the third time, LeBron James and the Cavaliers will face Curry and Co.’s Golden State Warriors for the 2017 NBA Championship Finals.
Last year, Cleveland crowned themselves the champions in an epic comeback when they were down 3-1. This year, from what we’ve seen from both teams, it heralds one of the most epic battles in recent NBA history. Here is my take on how it’ll play out.
The NBA Finals - Odds and Prediction
The series prices has the Warriors listed as the favorites to win the Championship at -249 vs the Cavaliers at +209. Nevertheless, after splitting the previous two championships, this year is perhaps the most difficult series to predict.
Both teams tore through their opponents in the previous rounds. The Warriors went 12-0 while the Cavaliers only lost one game to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. This reflects the major work that each franchise did during the offseason that put together the best teams in the NBA.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Of course, there’s no argument when people say the Cavs have arguably the world’s best player in LeBron James. It was James’ leadership that finally brought the Larry O’Brien Trophy to Cleveland last year.
But, there’s enough reason to argue that without the contribution of players like Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, the Cavaliers wouldn’t have won last year’s championship. Back in 2015, both Irving and Love were injured for the Finals and, of course, we all know which team won. This year they’re healthy and playing better than ever, stepping up in critical situations when James has the occasional off-night.
The team also added another shooter in the likes of Kyle Korver and improved its defense with the addition of Deron Williams and Derrick Williams.
James is also playing, perhaps, the best basketball of his career. Under his leadership, he raises the bar and takes the competition to a whole other level. And, let’s not forget that its James’ seventh consecutive trip to the Finals, already crowning himself the all-time leader in playoff points.
Golden State Warriors
There’s no arguing that Golden State has the better team because of the sheer talent they have in the ranks. Last year’s Big Three are now four with the addition of former Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant.
In joining the Warriors, Durant gave the franchise enough firepower to demolish any opponent with relative ease. Durant is averaging 25.2 points on 56% shooting (42% from deep) in the playoffs which adds to the Warriors’ insane 50% shooting from the field and 39% from beyond the three point line.
Golden State is also terrifyingly effective on defense. Over the first three round of the playoffs, the Warriors kept opponents at around 42 percent shooting from the field-the lowest in the playoffs. Which shouldn’t be surprising considering they kept opponents at around 44 percent shooting through the regular season.
