NBA Finals 2017

The finals cap a predictable pre season that had precious little in the way of drama and a lopsided playoffs that both finalists stormed through. Cleveland Cavaliers won the Eastern Conference and Golden State swept through the Western Conference. Which led us to…..

Part 3 of Cleveland Cavaliers vs Golden State Warriors!

(from left-to-right) Stephen Curry and LeBron James

In 2015 Cleveland reached the finals, but were under strength with Kevin Love benched due to injury. Kyrie Irving cracked his knee in the 1^st game and an injured LeBron James was left to lead the Cavs against a formidable Warriors team which had 3 all-stars. He powered the Cavs to victory at the Oracle Arena and followed it up with another in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena. However, he ran out of steam and Cleveland lost the next 3 games and the series by the score line 4-2. Unlike 2015 the Cavaliers have a full strength star trio and head into the best of 7 series with no player having any injury or niggle.
In 2016 it was the Warriors turn to suffer injuries, but they raced to a 3-1 lead. LeBron James stepped over Draymond Green and drew a violent reaction from him resulting in his suspension and the Warriors lost momentum and the next 3 games to lose the series 3-4. They became the first team to squander a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals history. Unlike 2016, none of the main players are carrying any niggles of any sort. This Warriors side is at full strength.
Being the 1^st team to squander such a lead must have hurt, but not as much as losing the decider on home turf. The wounded and broken Warriors have had only 1 goal and that is TO WIN BACK The Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy!
In 2017 both teams are at full strength and none of the 7 All Star players are a doubt.
Golden State Warriors signed Kevin Durant and bolstered an already star studded line up. They have a reply to Cleveland’s star trio(LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love) with a star quartet of their own(Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green)
Golden State weren’t able to match their incredible 73-9 record in the regular season, but tabled an impressive 67-15 in the regular season and are peaking at the right time. They won their best of 7 Western Conference quarterfinal, semi-final and final by identical score line of 4-0 each and have become the first team to reach the finals with a 12-0 playoffs win-loss record.

 This is only the third time in NBA history that a team has reached the finals on the back of a clean sweep in the playoffs. The Warriors are only the second team in NBA history to go unscathed in the playoffs. The Los Angeles Lakers did it twice(11-0 in 1989 and 2001). They lost the 1989 finals 4-0 to the Detroit Pistons and won the title in 2001 after a 4-1 thrashing of the Philadelphia76ers.

With the Warriors having 4 members of the All Star team on their roster, one can’t eliminate the possibility of them sweeping the finals 4-0 and finishing the playoffs with a perfect 16-0 score.

 However, the Cleveland Cavaliers aren't pushovers and having just ended a 52 year wait to bring a sporting trophy home to the city of Cleveland and they will not want to wait another 52 years to do so again. Especially when an opportunity has presented itself just a year after their drought ended. The chance of winning back-to-back trophies for the sporting success starved city is what can drive the Cavs. They were seeded second in the Eastern Conference but turned on the heat in the playoffs and were on course to reach the finals with a score line identical to that of the Warriors and had a playoff win-loss record of 10-0 before dropping a game to the Boston Celtics in the Conference finals. A 12-1 record is incredible.

As per NBA scheduling each team plays a team from the other conference twice on a home and away basis. Both sides won their respective home games with Cleveland overturning a fourth quarter 14 point deficit to one by a solitary basket at the Quicken Loans Arena. At the Oracle Arena in Oakland, the Warriors annihilated an exhausted Cleveland side by a final score of 126-91. A blowout victory.
LeBron James has been part of the past 6 NBA finals and has a 50% success rate. He knows a lot about losing NBA finals, so despite Golden State’s historic 12-0 run to the finals they would not be taking anything for granted, especially after last year. On team Warriors is Kevin Durant who was a part of the Oklahoma City Thunder which lost the 2012 NBA Finals to a LeBron James led Miami Heat. He, along with the members who suffered a painful defeat at the hands of LeBron James, will have unfinished business with the 3 time Finals MVP.
LeBron James at 32 years of age is having one of his best seasons, but he will need Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love to have better than ordinary games for the Cavs to mount a challenge. James himself will have to ensure that he doesn’t have an off day like the one he had in game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics. The NBA teams have been clueless as to how to stop the Warriors juggernaut. If any team can actually stop them, it’s the Cleveland Cavaliers.

When the playoffs began, it was almost as if everyone knew which two teams would make it to the finals. The world has been waiting for this clash, for a long time. For the sake of the fans, to reward them for their patience in waiting for the best teams to collide, the final series had better come to a gripping close when the familiar foes battle it out in the first ever three peat final in NBA history.
Who will reign supreme? Will Golden State win their fifth title? Or will it be title number 2 for the Cavs?
Find out!!!!