It's that time of year again for the NBA, and not surprisingly, the rematch of the decade is back in the finals for third straight year, the Golden State Warriors vs the Cleveland Cavaliers. This decade has made the NBA all about these teams ever since Lebron decided to return home to the land, and the quick uprising of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and new addition, Kevin Durant. I am not going to lie to you when I am going to say this will be one of the greatest NBA Finals to date.
Just think about it. Warriors have won the first championship, but against a Cavs team without Kyrie Irving. Cleveland comes back and wins the next year against a Golden State Team with an injury to a key role player, Andrew Bogut, who no longer plays for Golden State. Even with the injury to one of the very few Golden State big guys, the series went to an exciting seven games, which ended up being a Lebron James/Kyrie Irving take over.
Now we're in 2017, and both teams have had some major upgrades. Aside from Golden State picking up Kevin Durant, their upgrades in big guys have surprisingly done really well. Zaza Pachulia is as scrappy as ever, and Javale McGee has blossomed into one hell of a center that's a force to be reckoned with. Throw in the same core bench they have had the last two years, along side the young guns Patrick McCaw and Ian Clark, even with the somewhat underrated David West, and the even more surprising pick up of Matt Barnes, they have options to counter Cleveland with whatever they want.
Of course with Cleveland, they will be relying on familiarity in their entire roster, with some upgrades that will come in handy to take on Golden State. Cleveland's starting five is absolutely solid if they can stay healthy and make shots, and with the additions of Deron Williams and Kyle Korver, this could be an even fight. Lebron and Kyrie are the obvious key players for the Cavs, but if Kevin Love could keep up that same shooting he has been doing for the entire NBA playoffs, I don't know if the Warriors can keep up with it.
So who do you pick to win? Both of these teams are locked and loaded. There are no injuries to either team, and both of them have been upgraded in the spots where they have seen as somewhat weak. My prediction is this. If Golden State can lock down on the defensive end to stop Kyrie and Lebron while shooting and making the stupid amounts of 3's, they will win. Kevin Durant has a lot to lose in this finals and I am pretty sure he will not disappoint. In order to Cleveland to win these finals, they need to contain the 3 point shot and use the strength advantage against the Warriors. Lebron, Kyrie, and Kevin Love all playing well at once is bad news for Golden State, but let's hope injuries won't be a factor.
It's gonna be one exciting NBA Finals for sure, and I cannot wait to see what is going to go down.
