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NBA Finals Preview

(2)Golden State Warriors (58-24) Vs (4)Cleveland Cavaliers (50-32)

It’s like déjà vu all over again! Both the Warriors and Cavaliers advance to face off in the NBA Finals for the 4th year in a row. The Warriors won both regular season matchups. Both games were close heading into the 4th quarter but they both also occurred before the Cavs midseason trades. The Cavs roster is different today from when these teams faced off during the regular season.

Cleveland advanced to the Finals after defeating the Celtics in a hard fought 7 game series. This was the 2nd 7 game series this team has endured in these playoffs sandwiched by a sweep of Toronto in between. Lebron is playing the best basketball of his career in these playoffs. He doesn’t have a lot of dependable scoring help but he’s simply willed the team to victory. To have a chance in this series they’re going to need Kevin Love, JR Smith, and George Hill to step up their scoring. They will also need to get big points from Kyle Korver and Jeff Green off the bench because the Warriors firepower can quickly overwhelm any team. Another key aspect will be controlling of the pace of the game. They will want to turn it into a slow-paced slug fest. They will need to really defend the 3 point line and try to force the Warriors to take tough shots.

Golden State advanced after defeating the Rockets in a 7 game back and forth series. This was the first tough test of the playoffs for this bunch as they cruised through the first two rounds winning 4-1 each time. To win their 3rd championship in 4 years they will need to shut down Lebrons scoring help and make things as difficult as possible for him. I think it would beneficial for them to try and push the pace as I don’t think the Cavaliers have the scoring they need to keep it close. If they can turn it into a shootout, I’d take my chances with Durant, Curry, and Thompson making most of their shots over Lebron and company.

It’s quite amazing that Lebron has made it to the Finals every year for the last 8 seasons, 4 for the Heat and now 4 for the Cavaliers. Unfortunately, I just don’t see how they’re able to win this series. The Warriors are nearly unbeatable, they can be down but they’re never out and they can score points in bunches. I don’t think Cleveland will be able to put up enough points to win 4 of these 7 games. When these teams met last year the only game Cleveland took was game 4 and it was because they put on an offensive clinic and were hitting everything from everywhere. I don’t think they can duplicate that with this years team for even 1 game. Since Lebron is playing out of his mind, I’ll say they get at least 1 game in the series. I predict the Warriors win this series in 5 games and take home another NBA Championship.

_{Author: Hive account@sevendst19}
_{Editor: Hive account@bacchist}