Well, I mean, we all saw this coming, right?
For almost a full calendar year people have been waiting for this years' NBA Finals. From the moment Kevin Durant's Players' Tribune article came out people have been ready for the finals. As ready as we have been for the finals; did we really think the lead up would be this anti-climatic? Yeah the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards series went to seven. The Memphis Grizzles and San Antonio Spurs series gave us this:
We saw a sneak peak of what Giannis Antetokounmpo might be able to do for years to come. (I feel bad for the Milwaukee Bucks writers who have to write that name thousands of times a year)
Other than a couple individual performances I didn't include that's basically it. Plus, most of the great performances have been by players that we will see in the NBA Finals.
Let's analyze this as I do every year. I'll go by positions, but I'll jump around a bit.
Shooting guard:
Cavs - JR Smith
Warriors - Klay Thompson
JR Smith has been injured off and on all season long so it's hard to really judge him by this season. He has came back and been okay. He's averaged 6.5 PPG this post season as opposed to the 8.5 PPG he was at in his limited regular season action. We've seen him have some big moments since he starting wearing a Cavs Uniform so I won't look into the numbers too much.
It's been a different year for Klay Thompson for a whole different reason. With Durant coming in it has changed Thompson's offense a little bit. He has quietly turned into a really good defensive player over the last few seasons. But what has been going on with him in the playoffs? 22 PPG in the regular season versus 14.5 PPG in the postseason! The last time he had more than 20 points was in the final game against the Utah Jazz. Most people haven't mentioned Thompson's struggles because of how dominant the Warriors were all post-season. (Yes, I know Kawhi Leonard was hurt and they would've at the very least won a game. People down the road won't remember that though)
Anyway, Thompson has to bounce back in the finals for the Warriors to keep winning like they have been.
Advantage: Warriors
Power Forward:
Cavs - Kevin Love
Warriors - Draymond Green
This should be very intriguing. Both have been really good throughout the whole season. Kevin Love has had a couple offensive explosions this season. His numbers in the playoffs are almost a carbon copy of what he did in the regular season. This is easily the best lead up to the finals for Love since joining the team. His first season with the Cavs he was hurt by a man who A. has a man bun and B. will forever have a series clinching game named after him.
In his second season he wasn't playing very well and was on the bench for a lot of critical moments. This year everything is going well for him and I think he has a really good to great series.
Draymond Green isn't going to get himself suspended this year. He's not. Cavs fans (believe me I know plenty of them) hate Green and Steph Curry the most out of the Warriors. You can make all the jokes you want about the Deez Nuts guy, looking like the donkey from Shrek, and people actually forget about him getting 'hacked' often on Twitter. C/o @OldTakesExposed:
All that stuff to the side Draymond is a great player. His impact on defense is unmatched by about 99% of the NBA. He had a triple-double without scoring being one of the stats he had 10+ in. And in the postseason he's been shooting 47%... from three. In the regular season he shot 31% from three which was the worst he's shot from there since his rookie year when he shot a Charles Barkley like percentage from three of 21%. Bottom line is if Draymond keeps shooting like that the Warriors will win the series.
Advantage: Ever so slight edge to the Warriors
Center:
Cavs - Tristan Thompson
Warriors - Zaza Pachulia
Beware of the Kardashian curse, Tristan. Please beware. Like K-Love, Thompson's numbers from the regular season have carried over to the postseason. The biggest difference for him has been that his free throw numbers are up from 50% to 67% in the playoffs. He should dominate whatever traditional big man the Warriors throw out there between Pachulia, McGee, and West.
Zaza, quit injuring people and quit doing this:
Advantage: Cavs
Benches:
Cavs - Deron Williams, Iman Shumpert, Kyle Korver, Richard Jefferson, James Jones, Channing Frye, Derrick Williams
Warriors - Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, Ian Clark, Patrick McCaw, Javal McGee, Matt Barnes, David West
Signing Kevin Durant came at a cost to the bench unit the Warriors had the last two seasons. Iguodala isn't 100% healthy. Livingston will provide solid minutes but will not have a game like he did in game one of last years' finals. Ian Clark is alright. David West has given a new definition for the term, "ring chasing."
JaVale McGee hasn't quite been the Shaqtin' a fool type player he was in his early days. He's turned his career around joining the Warriors.
For the Cavs, they've done a great job filling in their bench. If Bogut doesn't get hurt he gives him toughness down low and the Warriors knowledge, obviously. They have some guys that have been with the team a little while with Shumpert, Jefferson, and Jones. They added Frye last season and he played well last year in stretches. Picking up Deron Williams was a nice move for an aging veteran. Derrick Williams has bounced around and hasn't lived up to the billing of being a #2 pick in the draft. He's became a nice role guy when he gets enough minutes. And I haven't even mentioned Kyle Korver being added this year!
Advantage: Cavs
Coaches:
Cavs - Ty Lue
Warriors - Mike Brown (slight possibility Steve Kerr comes back)
Ty Lue has improved over the past year plus of being the Head Coach of the Cavs. Either way I have to go with Mike Brown. Yes, he's been fired by the Cavs. Twice. He was fired by the Lakers, too. For the most part he can just stay out of the way and the Warriors can succeed. He doesn't have to make too many rotation decisions. His only difficult choice is really about playing or not playing a traditional center. That choice should be made for him because he needs a center out there whenever Tristan Thompson is on the floor. And at the very least Brown does have plenty of experience and that plays into his favor too.
Advantage: Warriors
Small Forward:
Cavs - LeBron James
Warriors - Kevin Durant
Now we're cooking with gas. LeBron is incredible. This is his seventh straight NBA Finals. Oh and he dragged Larry Hughes, Eric Snow, Big Z and company to a finals appearance in 2007. Whether you love him or hate him there's no denying what he's done. He lived up to and surpassed the hype he had coming out of high school. Yeah this was a disaster:
But even that raised money for charity! It might not have been the best way to do it and all that, but his heart was unquestionably in the right place. Look for this man to keep playing how he has since turning it up a notch for every game but game three of the Eastern Conference Finals.
This is why you left OKC, Kevin Durant. This is why you left OKC. Durant left OKC for many reasons. This is confirmed by Russell Westbrook either winning the MVP or getting second. Did people ever stop to think maybe he wants to live in a state that isn't Oklahoma for the first time since his rookie year in Seattle. Personal reasons aside are you telling me you wouldn't want to play with the Warriors? In a vacuum playing with the Warriors just looks fun. He was a free agent. Maybe he could've given the Thunder a heads up. Maybe he could've texted Westbrook. Although Kendrick Perkins says they're talking now. Durant has had injury issues this year. All signs point to him being back to normal. If there's a player in the league that could go toe-to-toe with LeBron from a match-up standpoint the only two that have a chance are KD and Kawhi. (sorry, not sorry Melo) That being said, it's all LeBron here.
Advantage: Cavs
Point Guard:
Cavs - Kyrie Irving
Warriors - Steph Curry
Even though they won't directly match up all that often this should be a great finals from both Kyrie Irving and Steph Curry. Irving went from being labeled as injury prone to a top five point guard in the league. He has been improving on being off the ball every single season. Kind of something you need to do when LeBron James is on your team. He was already a good shooter, but in the regular season it was up to 40% from three. His percentage is down to around 36% in the playoffs but that shouldn't worry any Cavs fan. He outplayed Curry last year. Whether Curry was a little dinged up or not that has to count for something.
Has there ever been a reigning MVP more slept on than Steph Curry? I am very aware that the Warriors added Kevin Durant last July. But you forget just how good Curry was last year. He had a regular season for the ages. Maybe some of the comparisons were a tad short sided. Numbers don't tell the whole story in all cases. Whenever Curry took a three, no matter where he shot it from, you thought it was going in. At least I thought that way.
I can't decide who truly has an advantage. If both of them play how they should it will be incredible to watch.
Advantage: Even
Advantages for the Warriors: Shooting Guard, Power Forward, Coaching
Advantages for the Cavs: Center, Bench, Small Forward
Even: Point Guard
My Predictions that may or may not come true!
Player who Twitter will go nuts over (outside of starters): Warriors - JaVale McGee, Cavs - Kyle Korver
First player to get a technical foul: David West
Second player to get a technical foul: Matt Barnes, somehow
Number of times ABC will cut to Steve Javie:
My Pick: Warriors in six.
Finals MVP: Draymond Green
Draymond makes up for the Game Five suspension in 2016 and has an amazing game six in Cleveland to keep the series from going back to Golden State.
As always, thanks for reading!
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